One down, 172 to go…unless the Ministry has any say!

Just a quickie update to say we both had amazing days. Apparently the rumor mill proved correct for me – I started the day with 8 out of 19 second graders and then had one more child show up late and leave early; that does in fact round to a sterling 47%. Kids, come to school…I promise I don’t bite! I may be doing the first day mambo (maybe Star Wars style – parts four to six and then one to three!) for the next few weeks. Judging by the names from my roster, I suspect a number of students are MIA due to Ramadan.

Michael had 15 out of 18 in his fifth grade class. We’re still amazed at the low numbers; the school starts to get antsy if the class sizes grow much larger than 20. Word. Some of the stories Michael came home with about the brilliance of his kids really gave us a new perspective on teaching out of poverty. I suspect I’ll see a wider range in abilities than Michael because I’m teaching second; kids tend to move around more, come in with different strengths and gaps depending on where they were for kinder and first (I’ll write more about my little German jumping bean in another post!), and can get into the school because of “watsa” (not so sure on that spelling, but the Arabic way of saying you have influence or pull, even if your kid doesn’t score so hot on the entrance exam). In Michael’s class, one student listed “sirloin steak” as his favorite food on his “All About Me” poster (thanks to my mom for that one a couple years ago – that icebreaker activity has gone over really well here at ASK). Another child explained that she believed one of the class rules should address that students shouldn’t slight other people’s religions. Yeah, um, using the word “slight” in its correct context never happened for me while I was teaching fifth. It was a little hectic at the end knowing where kids were headed (there are busses for kids from the embassy and Chevron, parents and nannies picking up, what have you); but all in all, a really great day.

Besides, Michael looked quite dapper in his dress pants, shirt, and tie, although I might be a little biased about that.

12 more days of teaching and then 7 off; yeah, we know, we’re lucky. :-)

xoxo
Abby & Michael

Because of the discrepancy in posting dates/times: September 1, 2009 / 6:30 (ish) p.m.