Salama my friends,
I am in a really good place so I thought I would blog about it.
To be honest, I've been having a really hard time adjusting to life in Abu Dhabi. TESL prepared me! My teacher told me I'd experience all the feelings I have been experiencing, and as much as I knew I'd feel bitter, angry, sadness, overwhelmingness, fear, isolation, etc. it still sucks. (Or sucked, rather).
I've changed my perspective! It is much easier to focus on the good rather than the bad now that visas are being processed and I feel comfortable and "in the know" at work. It was really hard at the beginning to accept the fact that positive reinforcement doesn't exist at my school and that I would have to help myself whenever I needed anything. This is hard to do when you know little to nothing. Now that I KNOW no one will help me, I've taken the liberty in being super assertive, almost aggressive in getting things I need. As for things I WANT, they are unattainable. For example, the laminating machine. I will never laminate anything and I'm okay with that.
We received projector screens and laptops for "smartboard" type things in class (I'm not quite sure what a smartboard is, but I think I have one...). Now I feel better because I can write efficiently and SAVE my lessons if needed. We had one technology (ICT) training session. I'm really looking forward to more!!!
I'm starting to really love my students. The badly behaved kids are a challenge, and to be honest, they provide me with entertaining (albeit, filled with rage) stories for Bernard at the end of the day. I'm excited to tap into their good side and find out what makes them tick! ONE of my notoriously troublesome students was ALMOST good last week, so I rewarded him by writing "You were awesome today" with a heart and a happy face in his diary. He was reasonably quiet and did his work and didn't hit anyone (to my knowledge), so I felt like he deserved some praise. He was SO thrilled that I wrote something positive in his diary that he showed the other teachers, and one teacher gave him a kiss on the cheek. The other students laughed, but this didn't phase him -- he's the biggest (and likely the most intimidating student) in the class so if HE gets praise, I'm hoping the others will follow suit. I told him I was really proud of him. Now he knows the standard and I always remind him that he was SO good and that he must maintain it in order to get a reward. We'll see what happens. ;)
I gave 6 of my kids awards for good behaviour yesterday. I attached a "Terrificate" (terrific+certificate.... Bernard came up with it and this wordplay is why I love him!!!) to a Finding Nemo pencil and gave them out last period. Some of the students were not expecting awards and their faces were adorable when I gave them a terrificate, a note about their accomplishments and how much I appreciated them, and a pencil. Some students expected awards and didn't get one. Nah man. I have high expectations and now the students know it! I'm really looking forward to reminding the students of the awards they could get if they listen to and respect me. Maybe I'll print off the pictures I took of the award winners and display them on one of our boards in class! :)
Anyway, Bernard and I are adjusting better. Some days are a little frustrating (the language barrier, for example, is waaaay tougher than I imagined. I thought English would be waaaaaay more prominent... nope! Not for some things. Hah). Some days are okay, and because they are okay, I've decided they are awesome! :) It is now a four day weekend (Eid holiday) and I cannot believe we made it. At this rate, we will no doubt make it until Christmas and even until next year. I can't wait for more experiences.
I've had SO many I could write a book! I've had projectile vomiting students, swearing students (I was an "ugly bitch" the other day, according to a six year old.... can you believe it?!?! Bitch please, as if you are going to get away with that. Wait until Parent-teacher interviews... smackdown!). I've had my resources taken away, water covered floors, broken chairs, broken pencils, peeing students, bleeding students (it's not as bad as it sounds... paper cuts and little scrapes...), screaming students, a weird orange bug in the class that caused massive amounts of screaming. I told the kids "Stop shrieking at our new student! He just wants to learn!! He hands in his homework more than you!!" They don't understand my sarcasm... I really should be teaching older kids. :)
Alas, I'm going to stop there or this email will get too long. Here are some pictures for your entertainment:
I am in a really good place so I thought I would blog about it.
To be honest, I've been having a really hard time adjusting to life in Abu Dhabi. TESL prepared me! My teacher told me I'd experience all the feelings I have been experiencing, and as much as I knew I'd feel bitter, angry, sadness, overwhelmingness, fear, isolation, etc. it still sucks. (Or sucked, rather).
I've changed my perspective! It is much easier to focus on the good rather than the bad now that visas are being processed and I feel comfortable and "in the know" at work. It was really hard at the beginning to accept the fact that positive reinforcement doesn't exist at my school and that I would have to help myself whenever I needed anything. This is hard to do when you know little to nothing. Now that I KNOW no one will help me, I've taken the liberty in being super assertive, almost aggressive in getting things I need. As for things I WANT, they are unattainable. For example, the laminating machine. I will never laminate anything and I'm okay with that.
We received projector screens and laptops for "smartboard" type things in class (I'm not quite sure what a smartboard is, but I think I have one...). Now I feel better because I can write efficiently and SAVE my lessons if needed. We had one technology (ICT) training session. I'm really looking forward to more!!!
I'm starting to really love my students. The badly behaved kids are a challenge, and to be honest, they provide me with entertaining (albeit, filled with rage) stories for Bernard at the end of the day. I'm excited to tap into their good side and find out what makes them tick! ONE of my notoriously troublesome students was ALMOST good last week, so I rewarded him by writing "You were awesome today" with a heart and a happy face in his diary. He was reasonably quiet and did his work and didn't hit anyone (to my knowledge), so I felt like he deserved some praise. He was SO thrilled that I wrote something positive in his diary that he showed the other teachers, and one teacher gave him a kiss on the cheek. The other students laughed, but this didn't phase him -- he's the biggest (and likely the most intimidating student) in the class so if HE gets praise, I'm hoping the others will follow suit. I told him I was really proud of him. Now he knows the standard and I always remind him that he was SO good and that he must maintain it in order to get a reward. We'll see what happens. ;)
I gave 6 of my kids awards for good behaviour yesterday. I attached a "Terrificate" (terrific+certificate.... Bernard came up with it and this wordplay is why I love him!!!) to a Finding Nemo pencil and gave them out last period. Some of the students were not expecting awards and their faces were adorable when I gave them a terrificate, a note about their accomplishments and how much I appreciated them, and a pencil. Some students expected awards and didn't get one. Nah man. I have high expectations and now the students know it! I'm really looking forward to reminding the students of the awards they could get if they listen to and respect me. Maybe I'll print off the pictures I took of the award winners and display them on one of our boards in class! :)
Anyway, Bernard and I are adjusting better. Some days are a little frustrating (the language barrier, for example, is waaaay tougher than I imagined. I thought English would be waaaaaay more prominent... nope! Not for some things. Hah). Some days are okay, and because they are okay, I've decided they are awesome! :) It is now a four day weekend (Eid holiday) and I cannot believe we made it. At this rate, we will no doubt make it until Christmas and even until next year. I can't wait for more experiences.
I've had SO many I could write a book! I've had projectile vomiting students, swearing students (I was an "ugly bitch" the other day, according to a six year old.... can you believe it?!?! Bitch please, as if you are going to get away with that. Wait until Parent-teacher interviews... smackdown!). I've had my resources taken away, water covered floors, broken chairs, broken pencils, peeing students, bleeding students (it's not as bad as it sounds... paper cuts and little scrapes...), screaming students, a weird orange bug in the class that caused massive amounts of screaming. I told the kids "Stop shrieking at our new student! He just wants to learn!! He hands in his homework more than you!!" They don't understand my sarcasm... I really should be teaching older kids. :)
Alas, I'm going to stop there or this email will get too long. Here are some pictures for your entertainment:
Here is a picture of what the bags should look like in my class. On a good day, they'll be organized like this.
Ah yes, a typical day. Messy bags = students who don't listen.
My "office". It's a kitchen. :) Haha!
My Eid gift. And now, a four day weekend. HAPPY EID! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment