Every evening I sit - on the sofa, at my desk, in my bed - and recapture my day for you (and for me). I enjoy this time of unwinding and sharing my experiences. In fact, more than just a pleasurable time, I think it's therapeutic, too.
If I'm the patient, that makes you the therapist, and you're one of the best ever. You don't say much, but you're a terrific listener.
Now let me fill you in on today's happenings.
I slept in and took care of some paperwork before going to the hospital again to get one of my meds renewed. I was in and out in less than a half hour. Thank God! I saw an American doctor who knew that the medication I'm on to keep the migraines at bay, is used for that purpose. The other doctor did not.
As you know, my school is in a rural area. That's why I see the camels so much. Because it was later when I drove by, I could better see the area where they roam. There is a race track that about six of them where racing on. It was amusing seeing them galloping along. They usually look like they're moving in slow motion.
I spoke with Ben last night and I mentioned how much I enjoy seeing the camels. He said, "You must see them everyday because you talk about them so much." So, OK. Maybe I've overdone it on the camel commentary.
Note to self - Mention my camel sightings sparingly.
Luther was amazing on the road trip to Abu Dhabi. He is as smooth on the highway as his namesake was singing a ballad.
Still working hard to create a positive work environment. It's funny, sad really, how one person can throw a kink in an organization and make everyone else miserable.
The Western teachers have been given a near impossible task of creating a reading curriculum. No books or resources are available. Yes, you read right. No books, no reading material. In fact, no paper, pencils, supplies. Nothing. Then when they go online and find something, they are limited on copying, and it has to be approved two days prior to needing it.
Yes, the salaries are much better than in the US, but they didn't mention that you would need to use a big chunk of it to create normalcy in the classroom.
This is not the case for the Arab teachers. They have curriculum and other resources coming out the yang yang.
I was just made aware of the lack of reading curriculum this week. I just assumed I was missing the reading instruction materials each time I visited a class. Little did I know that there was none.
There are academic outcomes each grade level is expected to master, but no tools are given to reach those goals.
What makes this hard to endure is that we all know this is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and they're paying us hundreds of million dollars to bring us all over here, only to discover that basic needs like pencils and paper, and yes curriculum, are very much needed, and in fact, essential to running a school. This situation makes the job here much harder than it needs to be.
Just like how it takes as many as twelve teachers to sub for two that are absent. The job gets done, with much pleading and begging, but it would be so much easier to just have a sub pool - people to call or hire to cover the absences. This current system is wild and results in lots of loss instructional time.
Hope this hasn't come off as moaning and complaining. That's not my intention. It's simply an objective view of situation, as I see it. Someone else looking in on this might think it's wonderful. That's doubtful, but maybe.
So my job, in large part, is to support all teachers, but especially the Western ones, in gathering the resources to teach.
I suppose every school has its burden to bear, finding pencils and paper, is ours.
Bet you're surprised by this, huh?
I'm remembering now that tomorrow I'll be back to waking up at 5:00 instead of 7:00 like today. With that in mind, I need to get to bed.
Sending positive thoughts your way . . . always
If I'm the patient, that makes you the therapist, and you're one of the best ever. You don't say much, but you're a terrific listener.
Now let me fill you in on today's happenings.
I slept in and took care of some paperwork before going to the hospital again to get one of my meds renewed. I was in and out in less than a half hour. Thank God! I saw an American doctor who knew that the medication I'm on to keep the migraines at bay, is used for that purpose. The other doctor did not.
As you know, my school is in a rural area. That's why I see the camels so much. Because it was later when I drove by, I could better see the area where they roam. There is a race track that about six of them where racing on. It was amusing seeing them galloping along. They usually look like they're moving in slow motion.
I spoke with Ben last night and I mentioned how much I enjoy seeing the camels. He said, "You must see them everyday because you talk about them so much." So, OK. Maybe I've overdone it on the camel commentary.
Note to self - Mention my camel sightings sparingly.
Luther was amazing on the road trip to Abu Dhabi. He is as smooth on the highway as his namesake was singing a ballad.
Still working hard to create a positive work environment. It's funny, sad really, how one person can throw a kink in an organization and make everyone else miserable.
The Western teachers have been given a near impossible task of creating a reading curriculum. No books or resources are available. Yes, you read right. No books, no reading material. In fact, no paper, pencils, supplies. Nothing. Then when they go online and find something, they are limited on copying, and it has to be approved two days prior to needing it.
Yes, the salaries are much better than in the US, but they didn't mention that you would need to use a big chunk of it to create normalcy in the classroom.
This is not the case for the Arab teachers. They have curriculum and other resources coming out the yang yang.
I was just made aware of the lack of reading curriculum this week. I just assumed I was missing the reading instruction materials each time I visited a class. Little did I know that there was none.
There are academic outcomes each grade level is expected to master, but no tools are given to reach those goals.
What makes this hard to endure is that we all know this is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and they're paying us hundreds of million dollars to bring us all over here, only to discover that basic needs like pencils and paper, and yes curriculum, are very much needed, and in fact, essential to running a school. This situation makes the job here much harder than it needs to be.
Just like how it takes as many as twelve teachers to sub for two that are absent. The job gets done, with much pleading and begging, but it would be so much easier to just have a sub pool - people to call or hire to cover the absences. This current system is wild and results in lots of loss instructional time.
Hope this hasn't come off as moaning and complaining. That's not my intention. It's simply an objective view of situation, as I see it. Someone else looking in on this might think it's wonderful. That's doubtful, but maybe.
So my job, in large part, is to support all teachers, but especially the Western ones, in gathering the resources to teach.
I suppose every school has its burden to bear, finding pencils and paper, is ours.
Bet you're surprised by this, huh?
I'm remembering now that tomorrow I'll be back to waking up at 5:00 instead of 7:00 like today. With that in mind, I need to get to bed.
Sending positive thoughts your way . . . always
Faye..this reminds me all too much of the situation I was in last year. Sure we had the curriculum, but you may recall that I had never heard of opening a school without buying those basics you menioned... paper, pencils etc. You might even recall my need to borrow a resource from your school and you comment was that we only had it in VHS and my response was, that is OK there are no DVDs at this school. Keep being you- they already appreciate you I just know it!
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