Open House and Cambodia

QSI Shekou had their Open House last night from 7 - 9 pm. The schedule was a bit strange, but it was a pretty quick evening. I would say about one-third of the parents Jamie and I teach showed up. We didn't get to speak to all of them, but the ones that came seemed very supportive. Some were very adament about things while others were just glad their child was in school at QSI. Or week has continued and things begin to pile up around us concerning grades, Reading Tests (which we've heard of nor administered but are obviously supposed to master and give to the students), and extra-curriculuar duties. I have plunged into the middle school Student Council and had 60 students sign up to be officers. There is only enough room for 12 positions.

The picture above was taken last week and I have uploaded a new folder for stay at the bottom of the blog. I've simply titled it QSI Shekou 2008-2009 and plan to place pictures of our school, students, and activities from this year. I have already uploaded our classrooms on there. Most are without students.

The International Lunch is this weekend. It is a HUGE event at QSI as parents and students come dressed in their home country's dress. I will take a ton of pictures. The faculty must make a native meal. I believe Jamie is going to take Texas caviar which she is renaming Southern cavier. I'll get the recipe for you of what all is in it. It is a chip dip of some sort and it is awesome. Some other Americans are bringing Beenie Weenies, Rice Crispy Treats, and I'm sure Hot Dogs. We also must dress "American." I think Jamie is going to wear her tailgating attire. I'm not sure what I'll do yet. If you have any suggestions, I will entertain them. I guess I could go as an Appalachian American. Some may refer to this as "hillbilly."

We've officially booked our flight for Cambodia at the end of the month. More details to come on this later and my new camera can't wait to go. We'll be flying to Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) via a red-eye flight from Hong Kong and Bangkok. We'll then take either an 8 hour bus ride to Siem Reap or take a 4 hour boat ride to Siem Reap. We would fly, but the tickets from Hong Kong are already running us a fortune. The main spectacle of the trip will be Angkor Wat. I'll be posting some information concerning this wonderful place, because everyone I have talked to hasn't even heard of it. I'll invite you to do some research on your own. A simple Wikipedia search would be the best bet. Here, I'll do it for you: Angkor Wat. Gorgeous isn't it!

I'll share more information with you later on our specific details of the trip. We hope to make it to the end of the month. We are putting in about 10 - 12 hours days of constant non-stop work here. Typical teacher hours and typical first of the year teacher duties.

Enough for now. Let me know if you have any questions. I've received a couple of emails about our newspaper article in the Daily Post Athenian. We'd like to thank Richard Edwards for the wonderful article and opportunity to share our story. Also thanks to my parents for sending us an electronic version of the story.

Have a great Wednesday America!

I'm Lovin It!

First of all, everyone should give Jamie at pat on the back from 7000 miles away for her first post yesterday. Not sure if we'll hear a lot out of her, but we'll see.

Secondly, I'm loving teaching here at QSI Shekou. The kids are respectful, quiet, and will do anything you ask without complaining, whining, or griping. Simply amazing! Jamie and I were talking today about what we spend out time discussing about school. Prior to this year, we spent 90% of our time venting about the various discipline problems we had at school for the day or frustrations with certain students. So far here, we've spent 95% of our time planning our lessons and discussing the best way the students will learn from our instruction. Once we get our supplies, the sky is the limit with how we will teach.

While this will never happen because of cost (especially if a Republican stays in office), American schools can learn a valuable lesson concerning class size. Sure, most states have a required minimum of 28 or so students, and some might even have a minimum of 20. There is so much more you can do with only 12 students in the room. Even some of my worst students I taught back home could be controlled if there were only 12 of them in the classroom. Plus, with the exception of one classroom I know, (i.e. L. Hall if you are reading this), most classrooms do not have 12 major discipline problems in it anyway.

I guess I'm coming off the top here, but I'm amazed at behavior of the students so far. Perhaps they are scared to death of the Appalachian American and his weird accent. Perhaps they will unleash the fury next week. I'm seriously doubting and hoping not.

Feel free to post any comments in the comment section or email me. I get random emails from people but would love to hear from my family, friends, and previous co-workers.

Sleep tight America!

First Day of School

The students came for only a half day today for the first day. I'm not sure why every school does not do it this way. The students only stayed in their "tracks," which is the QSI Shekou word for saying Homeroom. We won't see our track kids daily, although we both will be teaching all of them in some capacity.

The morning was regular first day of school stuff: rules, consequences, grading policy, etc. We then went upstairs to the open area on the 3rd floor and heard from the middle school director, counselors, and athletic director. It was hot, humid, and we all grossly sweated. The students left immediately after this gathering, and Jamie and I worked in our rooms the rest of the day.

Another schedule change, our third today only and probably 10th in about a week.

Because of scheduling issues, each teacher who was scheduled to teacher a period of "study hall," "resource," or "Model UN," was asked to create a class that will keep the students occupied during this time. I had 6 of those on my schedule with various students coming to me each time.

Jamie and I have chosen to do a "Mock Trial" class for a while. We're not sure how long this class will last, but we also might do "Literary Circles (Book Club)" with them. One teacher, whose idea I might steal, is doing a "Blogging Class." Another teacher, whose idea I won't steal, is doing a drama performance class. This is all quite exciting yet we all had mixed feelings about this.

For one, there is no curriculum for what we will be doing. The administration wants the parents to think that we are not just babysitting for those classes, and the students' time will be well spent making them more rounded. The lack of structure will be an issue after a while and our workload will increase substantially having to prepare for these classes.

It is however, a decent idea. The teachers at this school particularly bring various expertise to their jobs. Many are teaching out of field, and it will allow them to have a sense of purpose and fully be creative with teaching a home-made class. I for one am excited about the mock trial class and believe it can be successful.

I will certainly keep everyone updated as to our continued surprises and issues at school. We were told the day we interviewed for this job that we would have to be flexible. Since Jamie and I are teaching Reading, Language Arts, Mathematics (all out of our field and comfort zone), I think we are being quite flexible. Everyone in the school is practically in the same boat. Even veteran teachers have had to adjust.

Interesting first day and one I won't ever forget!