It's a Conspiracy!

Well, this week was by far the hardest week of teaching I have experienced.  Sunday turned out to be an ok day of teaching except for the fact that I was pulled out in the middle of my English lesson on the letter P to attend a meeting about school safety since I am on that committee.  Not too sure why the meeting had to be done in the middle of the day, but whatever.  After school I was attending my committee meeting when the Arabic HoF came and told me that I was no longer on the safety committee and instead I was going to be placed on another committee which was currently meeting in our Principal's office.  Well this committee, I'm not too sure what it is called but it has something to do with academics and behaviors of the students.  It's a lot of paperwork, that's what I've decided.  
Monday was the day from hell.   NONE of my students wanted to listen, they were fighting with each other, pushing, shoving, talking as loud as they could during my lessons, getting up and running around the classroom, fighting over who was second in line(I have a line leader, never thought second in line was something to fight about, apparently it is if you are 4).  I couldn't believe what I witnessed.  After school (keep in mind this was supposed to be our short day which means we are able to leave at 12:45), we were asked to stay to attend the shortest first aid and CPR training I have ever witnessed, good thing I am already certified and nothing has changed since the last certification I received.  We were told that in this country if we come upon someone who is not our family that we cannot help them, we were told (and I am not joking when I type this) to ignore the person and walk away.  I couldn't believe I heard the nurse at school say that and I'm pretty sure the other teachers felt the same way.  The manikin the nurse was using kept loosing "it's" jacket exposing it's chest which embarrassed our nurse and made us giggle!  
Tuesday was a day I was not looking forward to at all.  On Monday night I popped in The Ron Clark Story to get some inspiration on how to teach difficult children and it brought my mood up and prepared me for Tuesday.  Tuesday wasn't any ordinary day, I was alone with my kids all day because my co-teacher was at another KG school in MZ observing what they do.  I came prepared, I raided my cabinets for any sweets I didn't want and showed my kids at the very beginning of the day that if they were well behaved they would get a treat from me.  Boy did that work, they weren't angels by any means, but they were pretty well behaved.  One thing that made me laugh was one of my little girls asking me if she could use the bathroom, I told her no (they were supposed to be cleaning up so the nurse could talk to them about healthy eating and give me a break).  She proceeded to ask the nurse if she could go and I looked at my student and said no you may not go to the bathroom, you need to help clean up.  The nurse looked at me and asked me why I wouldn't let her go to the bathroom and I informed her she didn't need to go, she just didn't want to help clean up.  The nurse looked at me as if I could read the child's mind, it made me laugh!  
Wednesday, the kids were back in rare form, I had one little boy who had sat out from circle time every day this week as well as last week too because he wants to talk and sing and make noises on purpose while I talk.  Well I had enough and when my co-teacher came back in the room, I explained to her that every day this week and last week he has had this poor behavior, well, she told me we would fill out a behavior log for him and call his parents.  The look on his face was PRICELESS!  hehe, I know I shouldn't giggle at this little boy getting in trouble with his parents, but let me tell you the stuff he does while I'm teaching is enough to get him suspended in the states.  After school we had yet another meeting that didn't start on time and ended late.  In this meeting we were pretty much told that without our principal and vice principal, we wouldn't know what to do and that a leader tells you what to do.  I almost vomited, a leader is someone who leads by example, encourages and supports their staff, but I guess that isn't the case at our school according to our principal.  
This morning, I woke up, checked my phone and found a message from a coworker who normally takes the bus to school in the morning, she said she didn't even get on the bus this morning because the fog was soo bad and that she would like to ride with us to school when we go.  Well, I got up and looked out my window and couldn't even see the courtyard!  I text the other girls and we made a decision to not attempt to go until 9.  Rebecca didn't even attempt it was so bad!  9 came and went and the fog stayed!  We called it a day and stayed home, I guess our principal was upset that 4 of her EMTs weren't at school, but I'm sorry I am not going to risk my life to get to work.  Anyway, it sounds like I complained a lot about this week, but it was tough, I know next week with me better and I'm looking forward to it. 
Ah yes, I forgot to mention the fact that we got a new student this week, who doesn't like to stay in the classroom.  The first day I tried to get her back in the classroom and she became dead weight.  After that, if she wanted to leave, I let her, I can't leave my whole class to chase after one child and there are supposed to be bus moms in the halls for this reason.  I know that back home, you can't let a child roam the halls, but let me tell you, here it is different...... Enjoy the pics!

These are the things the kids can choose from for breakfast (cheese croissant, popcorn, juice, zatar croissant)

This is what they are supposed to do when they are finished with a center, rarely happens!

CPR

Having fun in the play area

Community Helpers is our theme this week, so they get to dress up!

It's Good to be Back!

I know I know, I haven't blogged in a month, but here it goes.  I flew home for the holidays to surprise my friends and family, they had no clue I was even coming as I told them I was going to Ireland for the holidays.  I arrived at 11:30 on Sunday the 15th of December, was picked up by my best friend and one of 4 people people who knew I was coming home.  She drove me to my sister's house to surprise her.  I had this whole plan worked out where I would surprise her, she would drive me to my parent's house to surprise them and my dog.  The plan worked perfectly, everyone was surprised.  I cannot thank Justine enough for keeping my secret and picking me up from the airport!  
On Monday, I ventured to Federal Way to surprise Daniele at school.  This was an extra special surprise for me because she was super bummed out that her boyfriend was sent on a mission for the Air Force and would be gone over the holidays.  Well, I walked into her classroom and she burst into tears! I spent some time in her classroom talking to her students about where was teaching and what it is like. I also brought Moe in to visit, he was so excited to see kids!
Tuesday was a big day of surprises, I arrived at my old school early in the morning to visit with Ann who also kept my secret.  It was like old times sitting in her room with Moe, my Starbucks and good conversation.  One by one each teacher and staff member arrived.  They walked into the Ann's room, saw Moe got really excited and then looked up and saw me and were even more excited!  The next few days included me helping with the school's Advent program.  
the greatest surprise of all time came Tuesday afternoon when I surprised Dylan as he returned home from school.  In the video I have you can't see him on the bus, but his face was in SHOCK!  He was stunned one because I was there and two because he thought his mom got a new phone because she was holding mine to record his reaction.  He ran off the bus and gave me the biggest hug!  I cannot express to you how much I missed him, he is like my little brother and will always be.  It makes me sad that I won't be there for his big moments like I have been the past 5+ years, but thanks to technology, we can make something happen.  
The rest of my time at home was spent with family and friends and of course shopping at Target, the UAE really needs to get one, like yesterday!  My brother and sister in law came up from California for Christmas as well.  They were the other ones who kept my secret.  It was great to have everyone together for the holidays, it made coming home that much more complete.  As my time dwindled at home, I realized how grateful I am to have such amazing friends and family that support me.  I said goodbye to them with a heavy heart, but I was weirdly excited to return to my new home.  I never thought I would consider Abu Dhabi my home, but I truly do.  
Returning was not as easy as it was going home.  My flight in NY was delayed because of snow for 3 hours, yes we sat on the plane for 3 hours, finally took off and I ended up missing my flight in London. I was rescheduled on another airline to leave in 3 hours, I was exhausted and worn out from not sleeping much the night before and not really being able to sleep on the planes.  I arrived in Abu Dhabi at 2 am, stinky and tired.  My baggage did not arrive with me, I tried to get a rental car and they didn't have any until later that morning, so I hopped in a cab and went to Casey's where I showered, talked with her about being back home and then fell asleep for 4 hours.  We  woke up and visited with Lindsey for a bit then went out to shop at the local Carefour to get a few things.  We also stopped at Jones the Grocer to enjoy the goodness that IS their food!  I eventually got my bags at the airport that evening as well as a rental car and arrived back at my place at 11 pm only to wake up and get ready for school.  
School these past two weeks have been interesting.  We don't have a HoF anymore, so communication between us and the Arabic teachers isn't really happening.  They did appoint Pepper to be acting HoF, hopefully that will help with the communication issues.  We had this Sunday off because of the Prophet's birthday.  We took the kids to the Mosque in town where they were taught how to pray.  It was sooooo cool to see them all pray.  We also took them on a field trip to the park around the corner from the school.  It was a beautiful green lush park, it was completely surrounded by a wall so you forgot you were in the desert since it was so green.  The kids had a blast playing all day!  
Here are some pictures from my trip home, enjoy!

Former 8th graders and Moe, so happy 13 of them showed up to visit!

picnic in the park!