Well I survived my first week and day of teaching. Yes that's right we had a full week and one day of classes and now I am enjoying two days off for holiday. It was a much needed break after a very full week.
So a little bit about the Haven of Peace Academy that I learned in just one week. First of all the school is very, very, very, diverse. I don't think I could put enough verys in there to explain how diverse it is. This includes the students, teachers, teachers assistants, and other staff here at the school. Our students and teachers represent over 30 different countries. This can be fun and challenging all at the same time. Along with representing many different countries our students also come from a variety of backgrounds in culture and religion. I am very excited to have the opportunity to teach in a school that has such great diversity and I have the freedom to share my faith in my teaching.
The second thing that I loved was the beginning of the year assembly. We started Monday off with a whole school assembly. It was fun to have everyone together in one place and start out the school year with some encouraging words from the director of the school. It was also great to sing worship songs together as a whole school. It was a great way to start out the school year as one united body.
It was very interesting to feel like a new teacher again and feel like I didn't really know what I was doing. As always it takes time to adjust to a new position and really get a feel for what you are doing and how you are going to go about doing it. As far as my schedule I am teaching K, 1st, 4th, and 5th, one time a week for 45 minutes each. I then have 6th - 8th grade three times a week for 40 minutes a class. I also have 9th and 10th grade one time a week for 1 hour and 30 minutes each. Finally I have two elective classes; one for 10th grade and one for 11th/12th grade each for an 1 hour and 30 minutes a week. As you can see learning names is going to be lots of fun and keeping my schedule straight the first couple of weeks is going to be interesting. I am fairly sure that I will not get bored though.
So that is a little bit about the school and my first week. I had many laughs throughout the week as I navigated being new and learning the ins and outs of teaching in a different culture. The best part of my week was the kids asking me if I was a professional kick boxer. At the start of each of the classes I allowed the students to ask questions about me so they could get to know me a little better. The first day one of the students asked me if I was a professional kick boxer. Of course I said no, and kind of just passed it off, until the next day when I got asked again. I then asked them why they were asking me this. It turns out they were told that I was a professional kick boxer and they were all scared of me. If I would have been thinking I would have run with it, but I guess it was good that I was honest. They still haven't figured out who started the rumor.
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