I really can't believe it's been almost 3 months since my last post...how horrible! I've been a serious blogging slacker. For the few of you out there who read my blog, apologies.
But in my defense....I've been BUSY, very, very busy. Doing what? Well.....
First of all, I finished my Master's degree in Teaching English to Speaker's of Other Languages. Yes, it is OFFICIAL, my degree was conferred in May during Commencement at USC. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the ceremony- you know, 'cuz I'm thousands of miles away. BUT I did have a mini-celebration here....somewhere there is a video of a ragtag crew of teachers piecing together a mini-ceremony, including cap and gown for me at the pub. Best to leave that video lost to posterity.
Second on my busy list, end of the year at school. I had many things going on at the end of the year: IB students taking their exams, Maturita students taking their exams, and finishing up a big Hunger Games project with my grade 11B students. I'm very, very happy to report that all 3 IB Diploma students received their diplomas and two passed with 6's, which is the second highest grade, in English! WOOHOO!!!!! I'm so proud of them for working hard and sticking with the program.
This year, I was one of the examiners for the Maturita exams in English. A bit of a refresher course- students in secondary school complete grade 13, then they must pass a written and oral State examination (State meaning Country). I examined the students orally. There were no surprises here and all the students passed English- really, one of our students would have to really try not to pass for them to not pass. It was an interesting experience for me and once again gave me another unique educator experience.
And then, the Hunger Games!! We had so much fun with this one and I'd love to expand on it next year, but I may not be teaching the book next year. The students love the book and so we had our own Games. As it was just one class of 16 students, it was a bit hard to organize, but in the end, we had a Reaping to pick one girl and one boy to battle, and then teams of Stylists, Mentors, etc. to help them out. I had 3 students in the role of Gamemakers and they designed all the games that we played. Then we had an Opening Ceremony and two days of Games. During this time, the two competitors could distribute fake money to students in the whole school to "donate" to each team. The students were SO into it!! And the three students I had as Gamemakers did an absolutely amazing job of designing games. Though there was a lot I could have done better to really make this unit POP, overall it was a success- and several other teachers seemed intrigued by the whole thing and I love that! I showed them that there are other ways to teach something than just rote learning :)
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| Students preparing for the first game |
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| Two Gamemakers during the Quiz Game |
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| One contestant preparing for the Camouflage Game |
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| Grade 6 students came to watch |
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| Which is better?? |
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| Our Archery station |
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| Patrik giving it a go |
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| Barca threw some mean darts |
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| The two contestants: Barca and Patrik |
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| Day two of the Games took place outside |
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| Everyone got involved |
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Egg & Spoon Race- in the end Barca won the Games!
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OH! And before the end of school, I travelled to Wroclaw, Poland to visit another IB MYP International School with some colleagues. We were there one day and it was amazing! I learned so much. But the best part was.....that Mom & Dad met me there while on their month-long European road trip. We spent a night in Wroclaw, did some sightseeing the next morning, and then drove to Warsaw, Poland for 2 days. It was great. Then I had to go to a special camp we set up for our MYP students...and Mom and Dad came to pick me up at camp (something which never happened in childhood because I didn't go to sleep away camp) and we proceeded to drive down through Slovakia, Austria and, eventually, Slovenia!!!!
I will blog about those trips soon.
So school has now been out for two weeks...and what have I been doing? Hmmmm......well, I went to my colleague, Tom's, wedding reception the first Saturday. Then I recovered/ slept until I took off for the first trip of the summer: Rock for People and then a mini-trip to Poland. Had a great time...came back exhausted. Resting up now because next week there is another music fest, Colours of Ostrava, and Lyn will be coming into town for that. Then the first week of August, Lyn and I are going on a mini-spa retreat for 2 days, and then I immediately hop a plane for Copenhagen!!!! I'm going to be meeting up with an old sorority sister of mine. Why Copenhagen? One, it is cool there. Two, air sale = cheap tickets. Then?......who knows. I really want to go over to London for a bit and there is the summer camp.
I am so blessed to have a problem such as this- believe me, I know. And I am so thankful for the opportunities that I have and the life I lead!!
Alright...."quick" update is over. I'll be putting up posts and pics from my trip with my parents AND summer trips shortly!
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!!
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