Parent Teacher Conferences

So parent teacher conferences were today...and boy do I have stories.

The way PTC's work here is that the school assigns a time for the parent to come in for 15 minutes and that is the time we have to discuss how the child is doing and what not. Well my first appointment was at 8:00 with Taldil's parents. Now I knew that her dad was the chief of Koror (The state we live in) but her mom is the one that always comes in to drop her off and pick her up and what not so I just figured she would be the one to come for the conferences. Anyways, long story short...THE CHIEF shows up at my door 2 hours after his appointment with a big long story as to why he's so late and that his daughter didn't tell him anything about the appointment until it was too late and on and on. First of all...THE CHIEF JUST WALKED INTO MY CLASSROOM...do I bow, shake his hand, look him in the eye, what do I do? Anyways, after 15 minutes of him telling me stories about his life and me laughing and us not discussing his daughters grades at all, he gave me 2 contact numbers, said call whenever you need anything, stood up, shook my hand, mentioned his name again (which I think was to solidify any doubts that I may have had that he is indeed the chief) and left. Glad he's a nice guy.

Most of my other appointments for the day went very well. One mom had me cracking up because right when she walked in she said "my son hates to study and all he wants to do is watch television and he's just so emotional all the time and I truly apologize." Cute lady.

Genesis'(my problem child) dad came in and before even looking at the grades said "you know, my son has an attitude problem and I don't mind if when he gets out of line if you just spank him." HAHA! All I could do was chuckle. It still makes me laugh as I am writing this. He then gave me 4 numbers to reach him at. 4!

All was well up until one mother came in. It was like a tornado came in behind her because all she could do was complain about the school and the teachers and how I assign homework. She kept telling me to Tell Nelson (the principal) about this this and this and I just kept thinking you go tell him yourself! She was not happy to put it nicely. She saw her son's grades and said "I will not accept these B's until I know that my child is getting the best education possible and that his teachers are trying their hardest." Side note..YOUR CHILD HAS A'S AND B+'S!! THAT IS NOT BAD!! she continued by saying "I would like to have a copy of your lesson plans to verify what he is learning and so that I know what my child is learning. I will be coming in to observe your teaching skills next week." WHAT?! She also had a lot of beef about the math grade and I told her that I don't teach math, that teacher is in the library if you would like to talk with her. To which she said "I'm sick of hearing you all tell me that you don't teach a certain subject. This is a conference. His teachers should all be here at once so I can talk to them." She just kept going on and on like that. Totally outrageous stuff. I didn't really say anything because I didn't feel like I had anything nice to say and my mom and dad always taught me that if I can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. :-D

After discussing this whole ordeal with Nelson I found out that this is not the first time she has done something like this and that last year was even worse, especially with the math teacher who is the same person as last year. That makes me feel a bit better. :-D

So in the end, I have met the chief, laughed hysterically with parents, been chewed out by a crazy mother, and I'm still alive to tell about it! Monday is coming quickly though so I pray that all will continue to be well. My spirits will not be crushed!

Until next time...love to all! :-D

Pen Pals Unite!

Earlier this year I decided to incorporate pen pals into my daily lessons for my class because I feel it is important to be in contact with people from different cultures and from different parts of the world. I worked it out with the 3rd and 4th grade teacher at OAKS, the school I worked at in Tennessee, as well as with the school I attended as a young girl in Worthington, Ohio. So... each student has 2 pen pals, one in Tennessee and one in Ohio.

So this week we (my class and I) received our first package from our pen pals in Tennessee! I cannot tell you the joy I felt seeing my students read their letters and see the pictures of their new friends in Tennessee. They were so eager to write back telling of all their favorite things and to send pictures of themselves. One of my trouble makers, Rois, came to my desk and was so excited to read me her letter from her new friend named Emily. After she read Emily's letter to me she said to me "Teacher, Emily doesn't like homework and neither do I!...Emily's favorite color is purple and so is mine!" I have never seen her respond to things with such excitement. She was truly shocked that someone so far away was so much like her. She quickly wrote a letter back to Emily and was so happy to turn it in and have it sent. This coming from the girl that NEVER turns anything in! My heart truly filled with awe and joy.

One little boy in TN sent pictures of his electric guitar and his pet gerbils and his Wii. Ozzie, my student, was the recipient and he was so excited to get extra pictures. He came and asked me, "Teacher, what is this animal" because he had never seen a gerbil before and "teacher I have a Wii too. I wonder what his favorite game is?" To which I said why don't you ask him in your letter. He was so excited about the whole thing that the first thing he wanted to do was take his letter and pictures home and show his dad. I told him as long as he brought it back so we could hang it on the wall that it was ok. He came back the next day still talking about it!

I found it pretty funny that when I was proofreading their letters, almost all of them wrote, "I can't wait till you come to Palau so i can take you to the rock islands...see you soon." I just had to chuckle. TOO CUTE!

I truly believe that pen pals is such a great idea and a great way to make new friends. I'm pretty sure this has been the most joyful experience I have had with them thus far. I was just so honored to be a part of their excitement.

Happy Sabbath...Hope this finds everyone well....much love....until next time...:-D

Not just another ordinary day

So today was a pretty good day. Nothing too out of the ordinary happened, however ordinary seems to be a relative term these days because I have to be ready for anything it seems like. I wasn't so thrilled about waking up this morning but once I got to school my students just brightened up my day so much. It wasn't necessarily particular things they did but just being together seemed to be fun. Teaching them was really fun today because they actually seemed interested and we laughed and had a great time teaching and learning together. Tomorrow we are watching Finding Nemo for science class because we are studying amphibians, reptiles, fish, etc. I am also looking into getting a class goldfish so we can further our interest in fish and also because it would be pretty much amazing to have a class fish. I'm going tomorrow to see if I can find one at the store. If not I will just have to truck myself down to the ocean and go fish for one myself. :-D

I must say that what totally transformed my day from just another "ordinary" day to an amazing day was when I went to the office and found that I had a package and a card from my mom. I quickly opened the card and found that not just she, but all of my Worthington, OH friends and family had signed the card too! I was truly, no joke, brought to tears just standing there in the office. It feels so nice to be thought of. So for that...all of you who wrote in that card, I truly from the bottom of my pea-pickin heart thank you. :-D

Tonight, the plans are to play a rousing game of volleyball and to continue the never-ending process of grading.

Hope this finds everyone well. Until next time....:-D

He's got manners!

I got a new student yesterday!! His name is Kyle and he's Filipino and his English cracks me up! I am now proud to report that I have an even 16 students in my class now. When he first walked in to the classroom I asked him his name and he gave me like 4 names then his last name. Then I asked well which one do you want me to call you? And he said Kyle...so Kyle it is!

It's kind of funny because the other kids automatically deem him as not as smart as them because he's new but man did Kyle blow their minds. He answered questions faster than they did and read better than some of them. The other students are quite impressed. Today he raised his hand to answer a question and stood up answered it (kinda like a soldier)...correctly I might add...then sat down and the other kids were in shock asking themselves why is he standing up. Their faces were priceless. THIS KIDS GOT MANNERS! Hopefully the other's will take note. I just had to laugh. The make me laugh so much everyday. Man I just love my students! :-D

Until next time...PEACE