Kids say the darndest things - Part 2

S: Telling the truth is scary.
R: Would you like to tell me something?
S: Yes, but telling the truth is scary. Really scary.

S: Miss, did you know that here in Kuwait there is special chocolate that you can eat and it'll make you skinny?
R: (sigh) I wish.

R: Ok boys, when we get to school remember to thank our bus driver.
S: THANK YOU MARLBORO!!
R: Umm, habibi his name isn't Marlboro.
S: But that's what his name tag says... (looking at the pack of cigarettes resting on the dashboard)

S1: Once one of our maids ran away. I shouted at her and she ran away.
S2: You're not supposed to shout at them, that's haraam.
S1: She's not supposed to run away, that's haraam.

There is a long standing argument over whether or not one of my students is Kuwaiti. Despite his well known family name and good standing in this society, most of the boys are convinced that living in America has nullified that.
S: Miss, he's not Kuwaiti.
R: He lived in America for a few years but he is Kuwaiti.
S: He's not Kuwaiti. He's not. He lived in America that makes him American.
R: Well, I am American but now I live in Kuwait. Does that make me Kuwaiti?
S: pause... Yes

Field Trip Fun

Today was such a fun day! Although several of my students started out a little grumpy, I think that all 10 of us – 7 students, Ms. Rana, one mom and I had a lot of fun. We spent the day at the Scientific Center. While planning where to take my students and how to connect it to an upcoming lesson I settled on the Scientific Center, having heard that the aquarium was a lot of fun. I will be starting a unit in Science about the oceans and thought that this would be a fun way to jump start our learning.

We left school around 9:15 and arrived at the Scientific Center around 9:40, after one very close call with a speeding taxi. After buying the tickets to the Aquarium and IMAX movie (chaperones were free woohoo) I brought the boys to the two dine in restaurants located in the building – Burger King and Pizza Hut. We placed our orders, paid and asked for the food to be ready for 11:30.

After getting the lunch orders taken care of, I took my class outside. The Scientific Center is right on the water and made a beautiful background for taking pictures. We also got to look at a very old Kuwaiti sailing ship. The weather was absolutely beautiful today. It has been a nice change from the 118 degrees in August to the temperature staying in the high 60s this week.


After our short trip outside we headed in to the IMAX theater. Although there were many grumbles and loud sighs because Deep Sea “isn’t as cool as Mummies” my boys sure seemed to enjoy it. It was my second or third time seeing an IMAX movie and I couldn’t help but be in awe throughout the film. I’ve always loved the ocean and been memorized by its beauty. For a long time, my dream job was to be a marine biologist so that I could play with dolphins and spend time in the water. While I couldn’t be happier with my career choice, I still love the ocean and its beautiful fish and plant life, subhanAllah.


Planning ahead sure paid off. It turns out the Scientific Center is a very popular field trip location; there were at least 10 if not more classes of 20-30 children. Not having to wait in line for food made having seven hungry boys manageable. After lunch we made our way to the aquarium. I was surprised by the number of non-aquatic animals they had on display; bats, hedgehogs, lynx, mice and snacks to name a few. The aquarium part was nice. There was one very large tank with four of five sharks, manta rays and many large varieties of fish.


Our last stop was the gift shop where I was pleasantly surprised by the items my students picked out. Most of the boys were given 5 KD (equivalent of 20 USD) to spend. Three out of the seven boys decided to purchase items for members of their family. One student pulled me aside and said, “Miss. Can you help me find something for my mom? I want to get her something really nice.” I was so proud of them, having bins of toys and knick knacks at their fingertips and deciding to bring something back for their moms, sisters, and one “very special” grandma.

Alhamdulillah it was such a nice day. Tomorrow is our last day of school before the four week winter break. Our Special Events Committee has planned an afternoon of “fun and games” which will be a nice wrap up to a busy but very successful first three months of school.

Coming home update: I have two suitcases almost completely packed, with an inventory of what is contained in each. I’m down to having my last load of laundry which will go in tomorrow night and traveling outfit picked out. Itinerary is printed and I have a ride to and from the airport. Two days and so excited!

Wake up call

I’ve been using my cell phone as an alarm clock for the past three, maybe four years. It has been reliable at getting me up throughout classes, exams, student teaching, and work up until this morning.

My cell phone has a setting that allows you to program in three times, three different alarms, a feature that I really enjoy. The first alarm is for fajr, the early morning prayer. This morning, like clockwork (pun intended), my alarm went off a few minutes before the imam from the masjid next door called the 30 minute wake up fajr athan (call to prayer), helping get people up and out of their beds and giving them time to get dressed and to the mosque for prayer. After praying and climbing back into bed I remember looking at my cell phone, checking and double checking to make sure the alarm was set.

I have a thing about punctuality. I hate (I hate the word hate but in this case it’s fitting) being late or having people wait on me. Because of that, I am almost always the first person on our morning bus to school and have the job of knocking on the van door to gently wake our driver while he takes a short nap.

My second two alarms are always set for a few minutes before 6; I shower at night and look forward to getting in a little sleep after fajr. The first alarm goes off at 5:57 AM. 5:55 just looks too early and 5:58 makes me feel too rushed. The second is always set for 6:00, as a backup just in case I am feeling really sleepy or a warning to get going if I am being sluggish and taking my time getting ready.

This morning my wake up call came from my very unique bird chirping doorbell. Jumping out of bed I ran to the door and heard one of the teacher’s voices saying “Rebecca, are you ok?” I shouted yes and that I must have overslept. She said to not worry and that she was glad I was safe. The people on the bus were not mad about waiting 7 minutes past our usual departure but rather relieved that nothing had happened to me.

That morning wake up call came at 6:37. I quickly did wudu (washing your body in preparation for prayer), threw on some clothes and a bit of makeup, brushed my teeth, ironed and put on my hijab and was out the door by 6:50. I went out to the street where normally every other car that goes by is a taxi. This morning there wasn’t a taxi in sight. I walked/ran about a third of the way to school until I found a taxi. As I got in I breathed a sigh of relief and checked my watch. 6:56.

Alhamdulillah I was able to communicate with the driver, giving directions to the school (left and right) with my hands and didn’t hit any traffic. I walked in the gates of school at 7:00. A mere 15-18 minutes past when the bus normally drops me off but not too bad for getting a very late start.

I just downloaded a free alarm clock to my desktop that allows me set a song to wake up to. I selected one of my favorites from my nasheed cd (thanks to Sania) and have tested it three times just to be sure... let's hope this hectic morning was a a one time thing, inshAllah.

Countdown update: three days until my 14 hour flight to DC and then one and a half hour flight to Bradley, inshAllah. Yikes, I need to start packing.

Social Butterfly

Throughout the three months that I have lived in Kuwait I've had my fair share of relaxing weekends, some which even involved not stepping outside the apartment. Most weekends come and go with my regular afternoon of tutoring on Saturdays, lesson planning throughout the two days off and the occasional trip to the mall or dinner plans. This weekend was a little different.

Thursday night, I had planned to attend a lecture "Is There a Western Media Conspiracy Against Islam and Muslims?" at the AWARE (Advocates for Western-Arab Relations) Center. While jotting down the address, all dressed and ready to catch a cab, I noticed that the lecture was not Thursday but rather Saturday evening. Not knowing what else to do I walked across the street to this Indian/Pakistani restaurant for a nice Thanksgiving dinner. About an hour later my friend Marisol called and invited me to one of her coworker’s apartments for a Thanksgiving meal. Hearing “pumpkin pie” helped convince me to change out of my pajamas and meet Marisol who was waiting outside in a cab. It was really wonderful, spending the night with a friend and getting to meet some really wonderful new people, including one very adorable two month old. The food (and dessert) was also delicious.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Marisol and I spent most of Friday afternoon at the Iranian and animal souk. We made it back home around 4 which meant that I had two hours until my next event – Thanksgiving dinner at my director’s home. There were around 20 people at her house, people I work with at FSIS as well as some new faces. The food was delicious and I unfortunately followed the Thanksgiving tradition of not knowing when to stop.

This morning I was picked up by another coworker/friend and taken to a party for a teacher who just earned her Masters degree. It was a women only party which meant most women were hijab-free. We had a great time, talking, dancing and of course eating. There were tons of sweets – cakes, croissants, chocolates, breads.. you name it. It was really nice, getting to socialize with teachers outside of school and talk about (some) things not having to do with school or students.

After the party I did a few hours of tutoring and then caught a cab to attend the lecture that I had originally planned on for on Thursday. The speaker, Ibrahim Hooper who is one of the co-founders of CAIR (Council for American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil liberties group in the US) was very good, as was the free buffet following the event (is anyone picking up on a reoccurring theme this weekend?). Marisol and I met up again, our third time in three days which is roughly the same number of times we’ve seen each other since moving here in August.

InshAllah, one week from right now I will be sitting on my couch at home in Bristol catching up on the past three months with my father and anxiously waiting to see my mom and grandparents. Less than a week… I think I better start packing.

Black Friday - Kuwaiti Style

We all know Black Friday. People wake up before the sun rises in order to get a head start on their Christmas shopping. TVs are sold at incredible discounts, people shopping while still in pajamas, carts overflowing with items. Even though I am no longer celebrating Christmas and have only participated in the Black Friday festivities (aka madness) once in my life, today I did my own version of Black Friday shopping.

My friend Marisol, who I met back this past January at the UNI International Recruiting Fair in Iowa, accompanied me to the Iranian Souk and Friday Market. I hadn’t realized Marisol had been to the Iranian Souk until walking through and seeing how the shop owners recognized and greeted her. I don’t know what I would do without her. I don’t have the best bargaining skills, although to give myself credit just last week I refused to pay the extraordinarily overpriced 4 KD (about 20 USD) fare one taxi driver was trying to get out of me. I was proud of myself, realizing he would not budge for less than 2.5 KD when I only paid half of that to get to my destination, I got out of the taxi and found another one willing to accept my price.

As I was saying, Marisol is very good at bargaining and quickly shoved my arm down as I was reaching for my wallet after hearing an initial price. I did some shopping, not for Christmas mind you, but for Eid which inshAllah I will be celebrating at home either December 8th or 9th. I was able to find the few things I wanted to purchase for my mother, sister, grandmother and aunt that and was able to get them for a very reasonable price. I also purchased a beautiful piece of Islamic artwork that says Alhamdulillah or Praise be to Allah in Arabic calligraphy. It actually says something else after Alhamdulillah and even though I have been practicing and keeping up with my Arabic classes on Thursdays, I can’t quite make out the other words... I’ll blame it on the calligraphy.

After the Iranian Souk, Marisol and I ran across the street to the Friday Market. We first found the animal souk which was filled with hundreds of sheep, in preparation for the upcoming Eid holiday. Although I knew my camera gave me away as a foreigner and tourist, I couldn’t help but snap pictures of the animals. I even spotted one baby mixed into the herd which I also captured on film. After the sheep section we made our way through the poultry part of the souk. Again, with camera in hand, I took some pictures as I walked through and was just fascinated by the variety of birds and number of people buying live poultry. I saw pigeons, chickens, roosters, baby chicks, ducks, turkeys, and a really neat looking quail like bird. I even spotted four guinea pigs running around inside one of the metal cages used to contain the other birds.







After the souks, Marisol and I took a taxi to the Avenues Mall. Our taxi driver dropped us off inside the parking garage and kindly explained his reasoning behind our drop off location. It seems that police cars monitor the top level and he was driving on a suspended license… from our short but scary cab ride, I can’t say I was surprised. Marisol and I had lunch in TGI Fridays and then did a little grocery shopping at Carrefore. I bought some chocolates to take home and vegetables to get me through the week.

I’ve got about 2 hours to relax and then I’m off to my director’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. I am staying busy and haven’t found time to start packing yet. I’m sure I will start to tackle that within the next few days… Countdown update: one week and five hours from right now I’ll be on my way to the airport, inshAllah.

Literary Day

Today the Special Events Committee held Literary Day at Fawzia Sultan. High school students competed in a poetry contest, middle school students read stories to elementary students and elementary school got to dress up, show off our costumes at an assembly and have an autograph party. It was a great way to end our week and the students really seemed to enjoy it.

I dressed up as Miss Ladybug from James and the Giant Peach, the story that I am only 20 pages away from finishing. Ms. Rana helped create a pair of antennae for me and cut out some black spots which I pinned to my red dress. I was originally going to use Eric Carle’s Grouchy Ladybug but did not want to risk my students making a connection between grouchy and Miss Rebecca. This way, if my students wanted to call me by my character’s name I still got in the respectful “Miss” rather than being called a grouch.

Grade 4 had a wide variety of costumes: a firefighter, swimmer, tae kwon do guy, warrior, British Airways pilot, Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, a doctor and a mailman turned rock star due to forgetting/not putting a costume together.



We spent the first part of the morning practicing what we would say at the assembly when introducing the book and talking about why our character was special. Lower and upper elementary grades were split up into two assemblies. Once they were complete, the lower grades treated us to a costume parade and then students were set free in the cafeteria to obtain as many signatures as possible.



Last period my classroom was full with over 18 boys, 7 from my class and the rest from middle school. My kids really enjoyed having the opportunity to interact with older students.



Click here to see pictures from today.

It’s hard to believe that there is only one week left before winter break and I’m sure my students are feeling just as anxious as I am.

Kids say the darndest things

I love my students. And they love to talk. Here are just a few of their comments or questions I was able to jot down on post-its throughout the past three days that I thought you might enjoy. R=Rebecca S=Student

R: There are very few people who visit or live on Antarctica. The people who live on Antarctica are scientists and they only stay for a few months at a time. Can you think of some animals that live on Antarctica? Yes, very good. Penguins and seals.
S: When I went to Antarctica it wasn’t that cold.
R: You’ve been to Antarctica?
S: Yeah, with my dad and it wasn’t very cold.


S: Is Christmas haraam?


S: Why do we have to do work in school?
R: We come to school so that we can learn and that involves doing work.
S: Sighhh, I wish I could just wash cars for a living. That sounds like more fun than doing work.


S: If Venice doesn’t have any roads do the airplanes land in the water?


S: I hate being a twin.
R: Wow (student name), I didn’t know you are a twin.
S: I’m not.


S: You are a sheep.(this is one of the favorite insults in Arabic)


S: Miss, are you married?
R: No.
S: Why not?
R: Umm (pause)… look at that it’s time for our Spelling words of the week


S: YMCA (I'm not sure where this came from. My student said this upon returning from the bathroom.)


S: I don’t like you.
R: Oh, I’m sorry to hear that because I really like you.
S: I hurt your feelings?
R: A little bit but I'll be ok. I think it's great that you are expressing your feelings but it is also important to think about how our words can hurt people.
S: I'm sorry (makes a face which says the contrary) but I still don’t like you.


S: Is it really true that Allah has made us all brothers and sisters?


R: Another winter activity that people like to do on the Alps Mountains in Europe is snowshoeing.
S: I’ve done that!! With my dad, when he and I visited Antarctica!!

The boy next door...

Seeing that it gets a bit lonely living alone, I welcome whatever contact I can get with people, especially when outside of school. Luckily, my kitchen window directly faces the kitchen window of a really wonderful family in the apartment building next door. I’ve made friends with the mom and her youngest son, Abdullah. He is 2 and a half, adorable mashAllah and likes to stand on the sink and wave at me.

Just now his mom told me that every time she is in the kitchen doing dishes or getting something out of the fridge, Abdullah will run in, ask to be picked up and look out the window to see if my light is on. She said that he is always disappointed in the morning upon seeing a dark room without his neighbor’s smiling face.

Most people here in Kuwait put curtains or solid colored papers up to block their windows so people cannot see in. Instead, I don my hijab and long sleeves around the apartment and because of it have had quite a few nice conversations (and waves from Abdullah) with my neighbors next door.

PowerPoint to the Rescue

I did it. I figured out what works with my kids. For the past three months I have been struggling to keep them on task during reading, focused and engaged, and monitoring that they are all getting the correct information. Well, I did it. I mentioned in a previous post that I showed a power point presentation last week on Antarctica (that they loved) which led me to creating one for the new book we started reading today, Amber Brown is Not a Crayon.

I set the projector up ahead of time while they were at Islamic Studies and had a simple slide up on the board that said, ‘We will begin once everyone is in their seat and showing me that they are quiet and ready to learn.’ Being the anxious little bunch that they are, they quickly filed into the classroom sat down and showed me that they were ready.

This weekend I read through the 80-page chapter book and created a reading guide with 8-10 questions from each chapter. I then copied each question onto an individual slide in power point, jazzed it up with some animation and clip art and that was that. At least two weeks of Language Arts lessons all set. Although I’m making it sound easy, to give myself credit I spent my fair share of time in front of the computer putting the presentation together. I used custom animation, shapes and colors in hopes that the slides might hold their attention.

I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of this before. It’s perfect. I can stand in the middle of the classroom, next to the projector and easily see who is on task. I set the power point slides up so that at the beginning of each chapter I tell them what page to open up to, remind them to put their listening ears and thinking caps on and to give me a thumbs-up to signal when they are ready to learn.

Students and I took turns reading and then we moved on to answering the questions from their reading guide papers. I posted the question at the top and then paused for the students to provide the answer. To help my student with dyslexia I bolded the most important words and told him that those were the words he should copy down and focus on.

Perhaps my students responded so well because it appeals to my visual learners or maybe it is just that this is something new, either way at the end of Language Arts Ms. Rebecca sure was happy.

Productive Saturday

While this may not be the most exciting post, it will give you a glimpse into how I am keeping myself busy while 6,000 miles away from everyone I love. Today I was surprisingly productive and I feel really good about it... Get ready to hear me gloat.

I woke up early this morning, around 8, which is at least 2-3 hours before my usual weekend wake up time. I stayed in bed for a while, going through emails and visiting some of my usual websites: BBC news, Digg, Facebook, Icanhascheezburger, IslamQ&A and so on. When I finally got up I decided that I should get a load of laundry in. I knew that sheets were my first priority. I wanted to be able to wash and have them out and ready to air dry before leaving to tutor.

After putting my sheets in my little washer/dryer machine located in my kitchen, I changed into workout clothes and walked next door to the gym. The other teacher apartment building has one apartment that has been turned into a little gym which is always open and ready to use. We have two treadmills, a stationary bike and an elliptical machine, all at least 5-10 years old but get the job done. There is also a free weight set along with a bench and one of those big balls for abs. I was able to distract myself while on the treadmill for a while by opening the large window that looks out over the masjid and my busy street.

By the time I finished my work out and was showered, I prayed zuhr and remembered to take my sheets out of the machine. I hung them to dry in my office and loaded the machine with some clothes. I cooked some barley and then searched my closet for something to wear. Seeing that I wasn’t in the mood to iron and liked the idea of staying in capris and a tee shirt, I slipped on my abaya and was out the door.

The family I tutor for lives just a 4 minute walk down the street. Today I only had to work with the two 9th grade students. We read a little history on Shakespeare’s life and Globe Theater, and then write summaries for each. We did a little work in their grammar books and then had a delicious lunch. The mom, an incredible cook, was out with a friend but left a tray of eggplant lasagna and a chicken pasta dish for us to eat. I always look forward to Saturdays, as it has become tradition for me to join the family for lunch in between tutoring sessions for their children and is by far the best meal I have all week.

I then walked to the small masjid next to their house to pray Asr. This mosque was really beautiful and had the softest, maroon and white carpet inside. Once I had finished I stopped to get a few groceries: 2 cans of 7Up Free, zucchini, cucumbers, bananas, milk, humus, deodorant, frozen veggies and batteries. As I waited in line I read the label on a box of laundry detergent that the man in front of me was buying. It said, Omo (the brand name) and then underneath DIRT IS GOOD. If dirt is so good why would we want to use soap to get it out of our clothes? Hmm…

After putting my groceries away I decided to do some cooking. I cooked some barley and then used it to make two different dishes - porridge, very simple breakfast with just barley and oats and then a beef barley soup. I also fixed my humus for the next few days. I can’t say I made it because the only effort I put into fixing it was opening the can and mixing in a little pepper and lemon juice.

It’s only 5:30.. I just prayed maghrib and am now sitting down on my couch with one of my cans of 7Up free and laptop. Once I get this posted I’ll do a little work on my lesson plans, not this week but for my last week of teaching before winter break. This upcoming Thursday is Literary Day which means that all students and staff will be dressing up like a character from a book. I’ve chosen my book and character outfit but am choosing to not tell in hopes that you will continue to read my blog.

Countdown update: Two weeks from right now, I will be getting off the plane at Bradley International and meeting my dad at baggage claim, inshAllah. I can’t wait!

I posted new pictures of my students' work. The new ones are pictures 17-27.

Just another day at the beach

Today I spent the afternoon at a cookout in Fahaheel, Kuwait. Rana’s family rented some space on Mangaf Beach and invited me to join them. As we drove up to the park I couldn’t believe just how many cars and families were already there and had the same idea. I don’t blame them; the weather was absolutely perfect. The temperature has been in the mid 70s all week and today was nice combination of sunny and partly cloudy. While 70 degrees sounds nice and warm, most people there were in heavier clothing, sweatshirts and so on. I suppose it’s all relative though, seeing that it is almost 5o degrees cooler than when I first arrived back in August.

Rana’s brother had arrived at the park nice and early and was able to reserve eight round tables right on the edge of the picnic area, looking out over the Gulf and right next to a boardwalk along the beach. While the male members of Rana’s family prepared the kabobs, I sat and chit chatted with several of her family members who I have met during Ramadan. It was so nice to spend the day outside and be surrounded by such a happy and friendly family.

There were around 20 adults, 10 children and 4 maids at our picnic area. The food was delicious! They made barbecued beef, spicy grilled chicken, kabobs and this really delicious pita with meat in the middle. Rana brought some delicious tabouli, sides of humus, baba ganoush and other salads. I ate so much… and that was just lunch.

I didn’t realize we were celebrating a birthday until one of the women brought out a beautiful chocolate cake from Mr. Baker and started trying to light four little airplane candles. We ended up singing Happy Birthday twice (each time we sang the song twice – once in English, once in Arabic) because the breeze from the ocean made it difficult to keep the candles lit. The birthday boy was very cute and shy, having so many people singing to him. The dessert table was just as impressive as our lunch. There were two cakes from Mr. Baker, along with some homemade donut holes rolled in coconut and sprinkles, a chocolate chip cake, muffins and a dessert made with Pakistani noodles, pistachio and cream.

The park was filled with families, gathered around and cooking all sorts of delicious food. It felt like a commercial.. kids were running around, playing soccer and cricket on the boardwalk, some men were fishing off the edge of the pier and it seemed like every other woman who walked by was pregnant. It was such a great day, Alhamdulillah.

One of the things I love most about being here in Kuwait is not having to worry about where I can pray. We stayed at Mangaf Beach from around 1:30 until 6:30 which meant that the athans for Asr and Maghrib from the nearby mosques were called. There were two small buildings for praying, one for men and one for women. While walking back to our tables, Rana and I could see that the men’s building was filled and there were 5-6 lines of 10-15 men in each outside the building, praying on the bare earth. It really was a beautiful sight.

This was a really nice change from my usual Fridays spent inside my apartment, catching up on sleep and lesson planning. I am so thankful that I have met such wonderful people in Kuwait and have the opportunity to be a part of a family here while mine is so far away.

Countdown update: two weeks from right now (9 PM Kuwait time) I will be getting ready to hail a taxi and head to the airport for my 12:20 AM departure to Washington D.C., inshAllah.

What a good week

It may have taken me 12 weeks but I think I finally have this teaching thing down. Don’t get me wrong, my students have been learning and I have had my share of successful lessons and activities since September, however, this week just came together so well and helped show me that all of my hard work is paying off. Alhamdulillah.

My first sign was a routine math fluency assessment, an activity that we have been doing since mid September - something that some students love and others hate. I can remember back to Ms. Nestico’s third grade class and “holey cards” where we would review our math facts and race to beat the clock. That was back in the days when I felt good about my math skills, far before Algebra 2 and crying my way through Pre-Calculus. I can sympathize with my students, those who love the activity and those who hate it as I have straddled that line many times.

Since September I have watched one of my students, K, the only one who is on a modified program (which means that I am changing more than 50% if the grade level curriculum)change from groaning when I announce fact fluency practice to giving himself a pep talk before we begin. He is seated at the front of the room so that I can easily assist him with reading and other activities. Just this week, as I watched the stopwatch click its way down, K shouted “I did it! I finished!” This little boy, who struggled to complete 18 out of the 25 problems back just a few weeks ago completed and correctly answered 25 out of 25.

Being the overly emotional person that I am, a trait that runs through the blood of all Minors, I got teary eyed at seeing his success. As I announced to Ms. Rana just how proud I was of my 4th graders and to give themselves a pat on their back for learning so much, K said, “Ms., if you’re so happy why are you about to cry?” I then explained that sometimes people cry happy tears and that I couldn’t be prouder of all of them.

When meeting with my principal to go over my Professional Learning Plan, an extensive reflective assessment where teachers evaluate their strengths and pinpoint areas they want to work to improve, I shared the success I was seeing in my classroom. I discussed the behavior charts and how one student went from getting 4-5 sad faces(I need to work harder on being quiet and calm) a day to earning that many in a week. We also talked about the positive impact of shortening the school day for one student has made on my teaching and student learning. My principal said, “now that the behavior is under control, they can learn”. It’s true. I no longer am spending 80-90% of my time redirecting or reviewing my classroom expectations. I still identify the students who are modeling positive behaviors, state exactly what I want my students to be doing and move their name tags accordingly under the smiley, middle or sad faces on the board, but I can now actually get through my lessons. In fact on Tuesday, I finished my first complete math lesson of the year!

Right now in Social Studies we are learning about the seven continents. For homework, I assigned a short poem to help them remember the names and locations of the continents.

The Seven Continents
North America, South America joined in the west
Europe and Asia meet together and on Africa they rest
Australia stands alone, floating down below
And Antarctica is the loneliest where no one wants to go.

Yesterday, six out of my seven students proudly stood in front of the classroom and recited the poem from memory. Once they finished, they anxiously looked over to see my reaction and wait for their praise for a job well done. I began doing power point presentations on each of the continents and will continue next week. Now that I feel I have a hold on the behavior problems, I’ve found so much more time and energy to really put into my teaching. I’ve (finally) started integrating technology into my classroom and have been able to engage my students in my lessons.

All in all, a wonderful week. Only two more to go and it’ll be a 4-week vacation back in Connecticut :)

Imaginary Friends

On a typical day during break my students separate into two groups. Three or four, depending on the day, will join the 5th graders and sit against the wall, talking about wrestling moves or PSP games. The rest usually cluster together somewhere in the middle of the playground and chat about what flavor juice their mom or maid packed. Today I noticed one of my students sitting at the far end of the playground all alone. I assumed that he was trying to hide a nice piece of chocolate or some kind of delicious treat that students are not allowed to bring to school. As I walked over I quickly scanned his Wall-E lunchbox and couldn’t see anything beyond his normal mini-sized egg sandwiches and juice box. After asking him why he chose to sit alone and he looked up and said, “I probably shouldn’t tell…” Curious as to what had happened or who hit him in line while my back was turned, I pressed on with my questions. Turns out, my student was not dining alone but rather was enjoying the company of his imaginary friend.

I can’t remember having imaginary friends when I was little. Sure, I believed that my teddy bear Amanda would come alive at night and play in my room while I was asleep but I think that was the extent of my imaginary playmates. My sister Heather, on the other hand, had three imaginary friends – Frankie, Kevin and another one whose name neither she nor I can remember. I always liked listening to my mom talk about Heather’s tea parties with her imaginary friends and her surprise when one day Heather nonchalantly said that she wouldn’t need her usual four cookies, since one of her friends had died.

Brenna, my niece, also has a vivid imagination. In her collection of imaginary friends there is Dragon, a nice dragon whose mom cuts his nails so he won’t scratch and hurt Brenna, her two sisters Meena and Anna who live in Florida and who could forget her oh so special husband Michael (aka the fire truck floaty pool toy that Brenna married a year or so ago).

I suppose the reason I never created or played with imaginary friends was because I was lucky enough to have a built in playmate and older sister who lived only one bedroom away. Although Heather and I went through our fair share of fighting and time outs in the corner we would almost always end up sneaking across the dining room to sit and play together in front of one of the heating vents until the kitchen timer went off, letting us know that we had served our time.

I smiled while walking away from my student, wondering what kind of conversation or scenario was playing through his head. On the playground I couldn’t help but think of how sweet he and his imaginary friend were, however, his friend wasn’t quite as cute later on during the day when during my spelling lesson, “he told me to be loud and calling out”. What an imagination…

For your entertainment

Everyday I spend 10-15 minutes reading from James and the Giant Peach to my class. This may be the first activity which they all really seem to enjoy. This week we learned how to write a friendly letter. I told them that if they gave their best effort that James might write back - therefore, I will be spending my weekend responding to the following seven letters. I will do my best to disguise my handwriting, even though I know the boys will catch on. I can remember how my sister and I would always look forward to our letter from Santa with the mysterious block letters and cursive signature that looked strangely similar to my father's writing.

I would like to share their work and I hope you enjoy these letters as much as I have. I've translated a few words, written inside the parentheses to help you out. Please take a look at the last letter. It comes from my student who normally sits and waits for the day to pass by and who I haven't been able to get excited about learning, until James and the Giant Peach and this writing assignment.

Dear James Henry Trotter.
My name is A___. I am good with my frnind (friend) and I be good with you and I not hit any budy and I sorry. for lating (I think he meant losing) your mothe , and dad die. What is it fun for with inceicet (insects)? and you have brothers and, sisters? whiat is your favairet movie? but wow how you got enside the peach! From me, A__
James can you please write me a later? your friend: A __
Your friend?
A__

Dear James Henry Trotter,
My name is H__, nice to meet you James. How are you. I love playing soccer, baseball and more. I am 9 to 10 years old. James, will you be my friend please, really. Please write to me a letter if you want me.
Your friend,
H___
Were you proud that aunt sponge and aunt spiker died, tell me.

Dear James Henry Trotter,
My name is S__. I am 10 years old. My favorite movie is madness combat. My favorite is videogame. Is the peach big. Did aunt sponge and aunt spiker see the gaint peach is rolling on them? I mean that James see the peach big. Do you like peach? James please write me a letter.
Not your friend,
S____

Dear James Henry Trotter,
M name is A__ I am nine years old and I good of computer and good of writing and how you get down the peach also how you a bugs? And you are an actor and pleas cold you give me a leter.
your friend,
A__

Dear James Henry Trotter,
My name is Z__. I like kickball and planes and buses and trains and boats and spaceships. Why areyou horible aunts like this they. They allwas (always) tell you to do orders. my age is 9 years old see you James. Will you pleas write me a letter? Your friend Z__ and tell your aunts to be nice t you.

Dear James Henry Trotter,
My name is Mr. T__ I like to play soccer match. I like to play wll my friends. I like school. you like a peach? You are fat or no? you like music. I like math. Wow you are 22 years you so good splier yes or no. you like school? me no? you? James will you please write me a letter? I LOVE ME
T____

Dear James Henry Trotter,
Dear James. I will be 10 years old at January 5. I was born at 1999. My name is S __. Do you wish to tell your aunts how you feel! Did you cry when your aunts did not allow you to eat the peech? Why were you afariad of the creatures. Do you like them now? Are you 315 pounds? James will please writ me a lettr? Your friend S__. Wher you crying when you wran (ran) over your aunts diead? Will you be frends with the bugs? Will you stay with an enemy? Will you bebest frends with the irth werm and spider and the lady bug and grass hoper? When you wher cuting the peech wher you afrade that your aunts eat the gient peech they a crazy or not? Wher you afraid when you wher in the peech and the peech got into the water yes of no? when the peech got in the water did you wished to swim? yes or no? when the peech got in the woter wher you breatheing yes or no? did the spider breathe yes or no? did the lady bug cry did she breathe or she did not wher her eyes? Did the erth worm was scared or not did she breathe or no or she did not breathe when the peech got out of the water or she cod (could) of died? When the peech brake the building and farms.

Sticks and Stones

We've all heard the saying, "Stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." Well, I beg to differ.

For some unknown reason, today was the day a select few of my students chose to express themselves and publicly announce their dislike for the school and me as their teacher. While sharing our morning work, one student's response to the question "what is your favorite thing about school?" was "My favorite part of school is PE and I don't like Ms. Rubakha". While there very well could be a teacher somewhere out there with a unique spelling of a somewhat common name who yells at her students and gives them tons of homework, but something told me that this little boy had me in mind while writing that answer. Oh right, he did. As he stood in the front of the classroom with me by his side, he read his answer out loud and then looked up to see my reaction. I'm not exactly sure what kind of expression my face held but I do know that the bluntness and publicity of his answer took me by surprise. While I could hear one of my favorite professor's voices saying "it's just a behavior, it's not personal" I segued into a short mini discussion about how it is good to express our feelings but we should remain respectful and think about how our words might make others feel. That was Period 1.

By the time Period 3 rolled around we had successfully taken all of our individual and group pictures for the yearbook and had moved on to reviewing our weekly spelling words. Unfortunately, one of my students earned two sad faces (I need to work harder at being calm and quiet) and one middle face (My behavior was just ok)which meant that he did not earn the privilege of eating his snack with his friends. After an explanation of how I do not give the smiley faces but rather they are earned depending on behavior, I was asked why I came to Kuwait. He proceeded to tell me that he wished I never left America and that I should go home because he hates fourth grade. "It's just a behavior, it's not personal.. it's just a behavior, it's not personal..."

Sure, sticks and stones can break my bones and words may never hurt me; however, I do believe they can sting a little.

Smiley faces and feeling successful

It has been a while since I have posted. Ms. Rebecca’s fourth grade class has been very busy. A field trip to the fish market, an awards assembly and performance as well as a change to the classroom behavior rewards system.

Our field trip was a lot of fun. Although the sea food smell was a bit overwhelming for some of the boys, we had the opportunity to see a variety of seafood. Crabs, lobsters, oysters, eels, shrimp, squid – you name it, it was there. Fortunately or unfortunately we went in the morning which meant that we missed the 3:00 auction with all the seafood sellers. We got a chance to see some of the fisherman returning from the Gulf with their bins of fish and other goods to sell. My students purchased their fruits and vegetables, along with some other snack essentials at the produce stand and supermarket next door to the fish market. The following day we made ants on a log – celery stalks with peanut butter and raisins for the ants along with fruit salad and apple fondue. The fondue was a really yummy and easy snack made by dipping apple slices into a mixture of peanut butter, Rise Krispies and raisins. For a Language Arts activity, we wrote out a task analysis and recipe for them to take home.

The Elementary Department holds an awards assembly every other month. Each student receives recognition for their success in either the classroom or other special courses. Classes take turns performing at the assemblies. The assembly began with a recitation from the Quran by one of the third graders. The fifth grade class then shared some of their creative writing and the second grade class performed a skit they had been working on in Arabic class. My fourth graders were the last to perform. We had been learning about nutrition and in Speech class working on using describing words for different kinds of foods. Going along with that theme, we made chef hats and my boys invited the audience of parents, students and teachers to enjoy a snack buffet. They stood in the front of the room and introduced their food and described it. “Come and eat my apples. They are fresh, crunchy, delicious and very healthy.” They did a great job and looked so cute in their hats. I’ll be posting pictures as soon as I can get my hands on them from another teacher.

We started learning about Kuwait money in our Math class. The lessons are probably as useful to my students as they are to me. The boys help point out my mistakes and think it is funny when I call the 10 fils coin a dime. In order for my students to get more practice with using money, I have given them their own bank account. They can earn various amounts of money throughout the day. Being in their seat when the first bell rings, participating in class and choosing to stand up to a bully and help out a friend. We have a huge problem with teasing and bullying which has carried on from previous years. So far, they have responded well to being able to earn “money” and are looking forward to their secret surprise at the end of the week.

I also started two of my students on daily behavior charts. They can earn a smiley face for when they are doing a great job being calm and quiet (our two target behaviors), a middle face for when the behavior is just ok and a sad face when they need to work harder on being calm and quiet. In addition to having the charts, I posted the three faces on my whiteboard at the front of the room and move all students’ names according throughout the day. It makes for a great visual reminder. I held a meeting with the specials teachers in order to talk through the charts and have had some really great success with them so far. My most challenging student didn’t get any sad faces today and he earned his second good note home of the week. For those of you who may be thinking, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a smiley face” believe me, it is a big deal. It’s a huge deal. It means that for the first time all year, more than a quarter of the way through the school year, we are making progress and getting his behavior under control. Yay!

It is hard to believe that I have been away from America, my family and my friends since August. I remember stepping off the plane thinking, “what on Earth am I doing here?” Although I still catch myself wondering what I was thinking moving so far away, I feel so much more comfortable than I expected. I have gotten to know my neighborhood and have been able to make friends with several of the women at the masjid. I am looking forward to coming home, seeing if Bristol has changed and anxious to see green on the trees and perhaps white snow on the ground. Let my countdown begin - December 6th is only 26 days away!

Sick and solo

I am currently getting over this sore throat, fever, head cold that is going around the teachers and students at Fawzia Sultan. One would think that a 24 year old who has decided she was mature enough to move six thousand miles away from home could handle being sick by herself. Turns out, it doesn’t really work that way.

I’ve been told that I was sick throughout most of my childhood. Asthma attacks landed me in the hospital where my parents would take turns sleeping in a chair next to my bed while the other one was at home watching Heather. I also had a hip dysplasia as a baby, however, I don’t know very much about it. The correct spelling and pronunciation comes from having to write it on medical forms. Due to the power of prayer, alhamdullilah, that condition disappeared the morning of the scheduled surgery. Childhood nosebleeds, “puffers” and my asthma machine, chicken pox which my lovely sister passed on to me, along with all of the regular colds, flu and other bugs.

I was sick so often that my parents would automatically run into my bedroom upon hearing sobbing or cries for Mommy or the throw up bucket. Just ask Heather, she likes to remind us all once in a while about “that time when I was sick but you went running into Becca’s room…”. I remember how great it was being sick. My mom would make a nice bed for me on the couch, complete with blankets and my pillow, constant kisses on my forehead and dry toast with a tiny bit of butter or jelly to settle my stomach. Grammy would bring Raspberry Flavored GingerAle to settle my stomach and I would get to spend the day sleeping or watching TV.

All of those perks disappear when you’re sick and living alone. I could tell that I was getting sick earlier this week. It started with a sore throat and quickly moved into a sleepless Tuesday night, complete with 101 degree fever. I missed having someone to baby me like I have been used to for so many years. Instead, I propped my laptop up against my knees and talked on google to some friends. I wrote some lesson plans and was sure to keep a box of tissues, some water and the thermometer within reach on my night side stand. I tried my best to fall asleep, knowing that I had seven boys who were expecting me to take them on our first field trip of the year and wondering how I was going to manage in my current state.

I eventually gave up on sleep and instead decided to call my parents with Skype. The time difference worked out pretty well. 3:15 AM Kuwait time meant 8:15 PM Connecticut time. Somehow just hearing my parents’ voices and seeing their faces helped me relax and start to feel better. By the end of our 40 minute conversation I could tell that my fever was breaking and I was ready to call it a night, well morning. We said goodbye and I fell asleep instantly.

Although the sleep was short lived, a measly two and a half hours, it was great. After getting on the teacher bus and attempting to say “good morning” to another teacher I realized that my voice was not all there. My students thought my voice was funny, teasing and calling me Gramma. The field trip was wonderful and miserable at the same time. The lack of sleep, running nose and alternating hot flashes and shivers plus seven boys with space to roam made for one long but really great day. InshAllah I’ll post about it very soon. I took a nice three hour nap after getting home, woke up to eat some dinner and watch a few television shows and then went to bed for the night around 8.

Alhamdullilah, I feel so much better now. The school nurse gave me some antibiotics and I have been able to rest and catch up on sleep. My voice is still silly, which I am sure will elicit some laughs tomorrow if it remains. While being sick when you’re older and living by yourself isn’t much fun, it is still nice to know that your friends and family can make you feel better, even when half way around the world.

Wow, what a Wednesday.

Hello again. I sure hope you aren't getting tired of school stories because today was another eventful day with my 4th grade boys. Looking back, I can't really remember my morning or other parts of the day. It all seems like one big blur. My day started with the bell ringing, which meant I quickly got up from computer desk and opened my door in order to greet my students. My most challenging one came running down the hall, wearing his baseball hat. I commented on what a beautiful hat it was but that in school we are not allowed to wear them. He immediately raised his voice and said, "No, it's mine. You can't have it. I bought it with my own money. It's mine. I'll wear it if I want to." And that was how we started our day..

First period we begin with math, which is always an adventure. At Fawzia Sultan we follow the Saxon Math Program, a scripted curriculum with a math meeting and lesson to do daily. Turns out, it takes us about a day and a half or two days to complete one. Today we learned about how to act, draw and solve some, some more (addition) and some, some went away (subtraction) problems. I "changed" our Reading Corner into a library/movie theater/restaurant and asked different numbers of boys (only those who were sitting quietly and showing me appropriate behavior) to travel to one of the locations to help illustrate our problems. We then drew pictures to represent the word problem and solved it together on the board. Math, I'd say was the smoothest part of the day.

I believe I had second and third period to plan while my students were in Arabic and Islamic. I defused an argument between two of my students, one of whom does not attend Islamic class and instead receives lessons at home. My other students tease him and say that he is not Muslim and he is not Kuwaiti. I did some lesson planning and preparing for the afternoon during that hour break, however, I have to admit that my Reading Corner looked quite tempting and seemed like a nice place to lay down and shut my eyes.

During Science we continued learning about the Food Pyramid and focused on following directions. While Rana was off on her break, I attempted to get all eight boys to listen, stay in their seats and learn. We talked about the food groups and how much food we should eat from each. I also tried "making" a fruit salad on the board. I drew a big bowl and did my best with my limited artistic abilities to add the fruits that were named. Some of my students were confused and wanted to add broccoli and carrots to the salad. I'm not sure if they have ever eaten fruit salad. Next week, after our field trip to the fruit and vegetable market we will be spending a class period in the school kitchen and inshAllah if all goes well, we will get a chance to try our school-made fruit salad and other healthy snacks.

I can't remember exactly how or what happened but two of the three students who require most of my time and discipline, lost the privilege of eating with their friends during break. Wow, what an effective consequence! I had them sit by themselves to eat their snack as they watched the rest of the classes sitting around, eating and talking together. Seeing their response to losing time with their friends and seeing what they were missing out on, I have developed a behavior chart that inshAllah I will begin next week, where based on their behavior during school periods they can earn certain privileges or rewards throughout the day: 1-3 they can earn break with their friends, periods 4-6 lunch/recess and periods 7-8 a note home or time with the school psychologist. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Jumping ahead.. my mind is a little hazy right now (it is not even 9 PM and I'm already in pajamas and ready to sleep). At some point during the day, one of my students got curious and decided to jump up to look over the ledge from our second floor hallway. Although there is a railing that blocks students from being able to fall over, this curiosity lead to other students wanting to hang from the railing which in turn, lead to a conversation in the classroom about our behavior in the hallway and the importance of being safe.

Lunch break. This week I am not on duty and get 25 quiet minutes to myself. I spend my break in the school prayer room, where 5-7 high school students, one 5th grade student and I pray in congregation behind the Islamic Studies teacher. It is a great part of my day. Let's me gather my thoughts and prepare for the last hour and a half of the school day. As I returned from my re-boosting zuhr session in the prayer room, I was greeted by one of the on-duty teachers. She asked if I had seen one of my students, meaning he was not to be found outside on the playground or in our elementary hallway. While I went to gather my class from the playground, Rana walked downstairs to find him in the school psychologist's office. He had gotten upset that someone wasn't sharing and decided to leave. He and I spoke in the hallway about his safety. While most of my class went to the computer lab (I had three remain behind for their behavior during recess) I spoke with this student and had him write a letter of apology to the teacher who was on duty. In the letter he stated that he was angry and was about to leave the building but he didn't because he would have been lost and he was sorry for making her sad.

Transitions, as most teachers will tell you, are tough. Although I taught (modeled, practiced, and also reviewed)a specific lesson on behavior in the hallway, my boys always find a way to make it interesting. As I stopped in the hallway, waiting for my line to become straight, one of my boys decided to write in pencil on his white uniform shirt I HATE SCHOOL. He then proceeded to show it to the student behind him and shouted, "I hate school. Who is with me?". This student, only nine years old, is by far the biggest boy in my class, probably in the whole elementary school. He just had his annual check up by the school nurse who told me he weights 74 kilos (equivalent to around 163 pounds). I could picture him, inciting a small riot of 9 year old boys who had had it with me and my classroom/hallway expectations. To say the least, I wasn't amused.

We ended our day doing some creative writing. We just finished the first chapter in the book The Adventures of Spider, which is titled How Spider Got a Thin Waist. I asked my students to write their own explanation of how Spider got a thin waist. Several came up with very clever ideas. In one story, Spider was in the ocean and a shark bit his sides. Another included a magic star that shrunk his waist. As the end of the day grew nearer, one of my student's medication wore away. We finished our day talking about why it is not appropriate to draw on our bodies with marker.

Busy day. Tomorrow is Thursday which means one work day before the weekend. All I can say to sum up today is wow, what a Wednesday.

Disclaimer: I love my students. I told a friend today that I couldn't imagine not spending my days with them. Although at times my patience wears thin, they are great. Imagine how boring my blog would be if I had students who sat quietly in their chairs, answered my questions and followed the rules. I added new pictures of my students' work. Most of the pictures are from their daily journals. I like to sit and read through them during my free periods or at night when I am feeling stressed. No matter how much they may test me throughout the school day, they always write something in their journals that makes me smile and love them a little bit more.

15 minutes of fame or should I say tame…

If you have been following my blog then you know I have my hands full this year with my fourth grade class. So far the past month and a half has been full of all sorts of attempts at classroom management, some phone calls home, visits from the principal and school psychologist as well as constant teaching and re-teaching classroom expectations. This past week I had my first 15 minutes of feeling like I was in control and a good teacher, the first time since September 1st. It just so happened that my most challenging student was absent (or so I thought) and my other student who is also a handful, finally started back on medicine to control his ADHD. Normally I juggle having to manage these two students, going back and forth, gently tapping the visual prompt I have placed on their desks and saying “oh I really like how so-and-so is showing me he is ready and listening with his bottom in his chair and his hand in the air”.

It is truly incredible just how much one student can change the atmosphere of the classroom. I had about 15 minutes of peace and quiet and really productive teaching time. My seven students were all engaged and participating and seemed to really be enjoying the math lesson. I even made my way over to my assistant and said, “Rana, look! I did it! They’re learning. I AM a good teacher!” Shortly after making the comment, as my seven students were quietly working, raising their hands and waiting for me to come to their desks to answer their questions, my eighth student slammed into the glass door, announcing his arrival.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this kid. I think that if the circumstances were different, if it was just the two of us working in a small and distraction-free space (aka no other students), inshAllah I could do incredible things with him. Although my quiet classroom quickly changed back into the more hectic, less productive one that I have grown used to I held on to those 15 minutes of fame. I sure hope those won’t be the last ones I’ll experience, having a classroom of students quiet and tame.

Friday Market

Today I spent the day with two married couples, teachers from Fawzia Sultan. They have a car that they are renting and have been all over Kuwait exploring. When they heard that I had never been to the Friday Market they decided it was a must, “something that everyone needs to see while they are in Kuwait”. I’ve posted pictures online so please take a look. I’m not really sure that my description will do it justice.

We parked in a sandy lot and followed the crowds of people in through the front gate entrance. Once inside all I could see was racks upon racks of brightly colored womens clothes. Dresses, abayas, hijabs, shoes.. you name it, it was there. As we walked on down the aisles we were bombarded by people trying to grab our attention and purchase from their selection. At the end of the first row I realized that the Friday Market was more than just clothes. I believe the next section we came to was cushions. Long cushions, skinny cushions, round cushions, couch-like cushions, fat and square cushions.. each one available in what had to be at least 50 different colors or patterns.

After the cushions came the curtains in every color imaginable and then couches while followed suit. Never before had I seen so many brightly colored couches. Bright purple and lime green. There were couches with fancy swirly patterns and tassels and artistic wooden backs. Just like with the mountains of cushions, I was tempted to sit down and try a few out but decided to move along and not give the sellers false hope.

The most interesting section of the market was the rugs. Just as with the couches and cushions, the rugs came in every color and pattern imaginable. What I found most intriguing was the size of some of them. These were rugs that were bigger than any room I could imagine. While I realize that many of the Kuwaiti homes are humungous, I was just baffled by the rugs which appeared to be larger than my entire apartment (which I think is pretty good sized, especially when it is just one person occupying it). While walking up and down the aisles, I tried imagining having a room big enough to fit on of the massive rugs. There was one very great picture opportunity that I decided to not take advantage of, one of the men selling rugs looked as if the mid-day heat had gotten to him and was taking a nap on top of one of the piles of rugs he was looking to sell.

Another interesting part of the market was the people. Many were Kuwaiti families, women in abayas and men in dishdashas with their maids and children following along behind them. There were also tourists, like myself with cameras in hand. You may be wondering what people do after buying all of these goods. There were no carriages or storage places to keep your belongings as you continued shopping. Instead there are men (I must have seen about a hundred), mostly Indian or Bangladeshi, who follow you around with wheel barrows to carry your goods and work for tips.

I ended up only buying one thing at the market. While the electric blenders, plastic watches, kitchen cabinets, mattresses, fake plants, old coins and washing machine soap (I told you, this place had everything) were tempting, I settled on a small, metal bowl for my mother. She loves small containers and I thought that for the bargain price of a half KD (which I talked the man down to 350 fils) was doable.

After the Friday Market I tagged along with one of the couples to the Fish Market on the Gulf. When we walked in I was immediately in awe by the amount of seafood. There were crabs, lobsters (different than the Maine lobsters I am used to seeing, these were smaller and had much skinnier and shorter legs), squid, and fish of all types and sizes. There was one area in which at least 150 men were gathered around. We ventured closer to see what was going on and realized that the men were waiting to bid on the seafood that was just brought in on one of the boats. The middle of the bidding area was full of hundreds of plastic laundry baskets filled with shrimp. As the bidding began the men were shouting and baskets were being allocated to different vendors around the marketplace. Cheryl, one of the women I spent the day with, finally found the crabs she was looking for but not before I spotted a plate full of squid and some ink stains on the floor below it (see my pictures).

Although I didn’t buy any seafood, I did take advantage of the fruit and vegetable stands next door. I bought some fresh green grapes, lettuce, yellow raisins and the most delicious dates that I have ever eaten. I only bought a small amount, thinking that they would last me a while but quickly realized my mistake after getting home and trying one and then proceeding to eat six more and several more throughout the night. As I’m writing this I am fighting the urge to get up for another one.

As you can see, I had a little extra time and decided to play around and make my blog a little more fun. On the right hand side you can now click on the labeled album links to be taken to my online pictures. I have added to the October picture album and encourage you all to take a look. I couldn’t help but include some of my students’ work and answers to their tests. Their answers made me smile while correcting their papers and I thought I may be able to pass that along to you as well. I have also posted some of the pictures from my adventure today. Enjoy!

Birthday in Kuwait

On Friday, October 10th, I turned 24! Due to my work week, I had the day off which was a nice present. On Thursday Rola, the school secretary, put into our Daily Bulletin a birthday message so throughout the day I was receiving emails and birthday wishes from staff members. My assistant Rana surprised me in the middle of a lesson asking, “Ms. Rebecca would you mind if we took a 10 minute break?” After saying “no” and wondering why she had been pulling students out into the hall, she presented me with a homemade birthday card. The notes from the students were precious, spelling mistakes and all – “happy bithday tomorrow it will good in your life” along with their beautiful drawings of cakes and hearts. Rana had run out during her break to a bakery nearby and bought mini pizzas and donuts for the class. It was a very nice surprise celebration.

My second birthday gift came from my parents as I returned home from work. I have experienced a bit of difficulty setting up my bank account over here and am waiting for an e-pin number so that I may transfer money to my bank account back in Connecticut. That being said, my parents gave me permission to use their credit card to book a ticket home in December! I was able to find a relatively good price for a flight back home on December 6th and wanted to book it before the fair increased. Not knowing how long before I am all set to use internet banking with NBK (National Bank of Kuwait) will I was anxious to get my ticket. InshAllah I am hoping to get my banking in order by the end of the week so that I can pay my parents back. Less than two months and I’ll be home, inshAllah, from December 6th until the 31st :)

Friday morning I woke up to a Skype phone call from my sister Heather, niece Brenna and nephew Anthony. Of course I cried, almost not recognizing Brenna.. not really, but she has gotten so big since the last seeing her in July. Anthony was able to say Becca (sort of) and seemed excited to see me. After seeing and realizing just how much I miss their family, I have extra motivation to work as hard as I can and get in my tutoring hours so that I can afford a ticket to Okinawa, Japan hopefully during my spring break in March. I got another Skype phone call a few hours later from my parents - “Happy bir…” and then silence, our internet connection had cut out. A few seconds later we were back on and I was able to see and hear my parents singing and wishing me a happy birthday.

A friend that I met back in Iowa at the International Teaching Fair, Marisol who is from Washington D.C., is here in Kuwait and teaching only 15 minutes away. She and I share the same birthday and made plans to meet up and celebrate together. She had invited her co-workers to a café on the Gulf Road for dinner and drinks (no, not alcoholic drinks – delicious freshly squeezed mango and kiwi and lemon mint juices). Twenty three of her co-workers showed up and were really friendly and wonderful to talk to and get to know. We spent a few hours on the outdoor sitting area, looking out at the Arabian Gulf and watching the children and families walking by on the boardwalk and sitting together on the beach. After dinner a few of us had some sheesha, a water pipe with flavored tobacco and dessert. Alhamdullilah, it was a really nice birthday.

Today I slept in and then walked down the street to do my tutoring. I started with the 5th grade student on spelling and reading practice. We then ate lunch together as a family- Magda and her husband, her three children and me. She made a delicious meal of rice, salad, shrimp, and fish (still on the bone, heads and all.. she cleaned them off and gave me the meat. I felt like one of her children but she could tell that I didn’t know what to do with the whole fish on my plate). After lunch she gave me a birthday card that her family had signed along with a really beautiful wool scarf to wrap around me during the winter. I finished up helping her 9th graders prepare for their biology quiz on the properties of water and then walked back home.

I really have met such wonderful and genuinely kind people here in Kuwait. I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity and inshAllah hope to make the most of it. I started taking a one-hour a week Arabic class at school, taught by the high school Arabic teacher, and am looking forward to building up my vocabulary and working on my pronunciation. I am excited to be here in Kuwait but am also really looking forward to coming home in just a couple months. Please let me know if you have any special requests or items that you collect that you would like me to bring back for you.

Two weeks in two minutes

September 30th was Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which marks the end of the month of Ramadan. On the first day of Shawwal (the 10th month of the lunar Islamic calendar), Muslims gather either in mosques or a large open area for a congregational prayer at daybreak. The rest of that day (and following two days) are typically spent visiting family and friends. I spent my first Eid with my assistant Rana and her family. They picked me up and took me to lunch at Chili’s. It was very fun; there were 15 of us at four tables that were pushed together. Everyone was dressed up in new clothes and so excited and happy to celebrating. The restaurant was packed and I even ran into someone I knew (another family who had invited me over for iftar during Ramadan)!

Living in Kuwait after Ramadan is very different. Businesses and restaurants are now open during the day and we are now in the regular schedule. Gone are the days of my 9-1 school day. I now have them from 7:30 until 2. My students are incredibly busy throughout our eight-period school day. In addition to having five or six academic class periods with me, my boys go to Arabic class and then one or two specials classes. They get a 15 minute break outside on the rooftop playground where they all eat their snacks and a 25 minute lunch break which is usually spent running around or playing soccer.

I am doing my best to adjust to the early day. The bus which takes teachers to school leaves at 6:30. I have been trying to get up by 6, however, the snooze button has become my best friend. I’ve learned to shower, pack my bag and pick out my outfit the night before in order to squeeze in those extra 5-10 minutes of sleep in the morning. I am usually back to my apartment around 3:15. I’ve gotten into the routine of praying Asr (the mid afternoon prayer), taking a little nap, eating a small dinner and then using the exercise equipment in the apartment building next door.

It is so hard to be active here. Gym memberships at the “nice” gyms in the hotels cost around $1,000 USD a year. Seeing that I am trying my best to save while here in Kuwait and do not have my own transportation, I am perfectly happy with the two treadmill, one stationary bike and small free weight set in the apartment building next door. I’ve gone all week long and have not run into another person – it’s like having my own little personal workout room. There is a bakery next door that sells delicious baklava, konafa (a shredded pastry with sweet cheese in the middle which is covered in a sugar syrup) and fatire (similar to a calzone with a variety of cheese, vegetable or meat fillings). Their prices are really reasonable and the food is delicious. Dangerous combination…

Tutoring in Kuwait is a great way to make additional money. The average rate for tutoring ranges from 10-20 KD which in US dollars comes out to about 40-80 dollars an hour. Most Kuwaiti families hire tutors to assist in explaining academic material and helping children with their homework. This week I started working with three children, two students in 9th grade and one in 5th. Their mother is the school nurse at Fawzia Sultan and they live only a 4 minute walk away from my apartment. All of the children can speak English, however, they are much more confident in Arabic. When working with the two 9th graders on Biology (I cannot believe I was helping them in this subject - I realized that it has been 9 years since I have really worked with or read about monomers, macromolecules and the elements which make up carbohydrates) I realized just how confusing the terminology can be without a solid background in English. I tried high-lighting and teaching common prefixes like mono, di , macro, mini and so on. I borrowed one of their books to take home with me so that I can read up and familiarize myself with the information, before trying to explain it to them. InshAllah, I will be working with these three children four hours every week. I will also be starting to work with a 4th grade student who lives in Kuwait City next week. His mother sounds very nice and is very excited for me to being. After hearing that I don’t have a car she told me not to worry and that she will just send her driver to pick me up and drop me off on the three days a week that I will be working with her son.

I am doing my best to stay busy. One of the Arabic teachers is offering a beginners Arabic class on Thursdays from 2-3, free of charge for any interested staff members. I am looking forward to this class and the opportunity to learn. There are many parents and staff members who I would love to communicate with. For now we communicate through smiles and with the assistance of Rana. InshAllah, with time I will pick up and be able to use and speak some Arabic.

I apologize for taking so long to update this blog. If anyone gets impatient feel free to email me at Rebecca.Minor@gmail.com and give me a nudge to write another post. As always, I hope you are doing well and I look forward to hearing from you.

Kuwait Traffic

During one of our pre-service training sessions at Fawzia Sultan when introducing ourselves we had to answer the question, “Six months from now I hope…” my answer was that I hope to not be so afraid to cross the street. It could be that I have never lived in a city or maybe that traffic laws and common courtesies between drivers doesn’t exist.. regardless, traffic here is something else.

It may seem strange to dedicate an entire post to traffic but unless you have lived or visited in one of the Gulf countries you have no idea what the traffic is like. There is one highway here in Kuwait, called 30, I’m not sure if that stands for a route number or is just the highway name, but it has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most fatalities. Many people here say that if you don’t see an accident at least once a day, you’re not in Kuwait. Many wrecks are left on the side of the road for a few days or however long it takes to finish the paperwork. So far I have only seen a few wreckages and alhamdullilah have not been involved in any sort of accident.

Even though car accidents occur frequently and Kuwait is well known for their fatality rate, people don’t wear seat belts or put their children in car seats. It is a habit for me to buckle up, whether I am in the front of back. Because of this I have gained several peoples’ attention, having them turn around and say “you really wear that”? One of my friends wears the seat belt in her car but only because she and her husband haven’t been able to disable the alarm that goes off when you drive without it on.

I have seen a few Student Driver signs and cannot imagine the anxiety or experience of learning to drive here in Kuwait. Not everyone needs driver training; if you are from one of the wealthy families in Kuwait you automatically get your license, without or without practice or the need for a driving test.

Normal rush hour traffic back home (I am thinking of Hartford traffic on 84) goes from 5-7 PM give or take. Here I have noticed two times throughout the day where traffic builds up - in the afternoon around 2 or 3 when schools are getting out and students are getting picked up by their drivers and then at night around 10:30-11 when people are heading out to the malls to shop.

The intention behind this post was not to complain or worry anyone. Traffic here is really just very different from back home and I wanted to share. I feel fortunate to have bus transportation to and from school and plan on doing as much walking as possible once the weather cools off a bit.

I have only two days of teaching this week and then have a nice five day holiday for Eid, the Muslim holiday and celebration that marks the end of Ramadan. I have plans to spend some of the time with friends from school, however, I am also really looking forward to some down time in my apartment. I feel like I am starting to get into the swing of things. I have been able to finally access the school server and read the Science and Social Studies curriculums and will be doing some lesson planning over my break as well. I will be writing soon, inshAllah to talk about the last few days of Ramadan and the Eid holiday.

Success in the classroom!

I know I was a little defeated in my last post but alhamdulillah I have finished a wonderful week with my students and am now enjoying the last day of my weekend. In the beginning of the year I told my students that they could work as a whole class for something fun. They decided on time to play outside and this week started coming close to filling their charts. I was able to use that as an incentive for them to do their work and remember to raise their hands just by announcing, "if everyone keeps on being safe, responsible, respectful, good learners we may be able to spend the last part of Thursday doing something special". Maybe it was the reinforcer or maybe I have finally settled in and am getting use to teaching. I hadn't realized that I am on the only teacher at the school with less than 10 years of teaching experience... It is nice to know that I have tons of resources and people with ideas to help me out.

Tuesday night was Open House where I got to meet half of my students' parents. The timing was difficult for both students and staff. We are now breaking our fast a few minutes before 6:00 which means that the night prayers begin at the mosques around 7:30 and Open House was scheduled from 7-9:30. Luckily I was able to eat quickly and get to school and have enough time to set up my room. The parents who came were all very friendly and told me that their children are quite happy. I allowed my students to give their families a tour around the room and asked them to explain our classroom rules so I could see if I had done a good enough job teaching them.

Wednesday was my third day of teaching and trying to get through one of the scripted math lessons from Saxon Math. Although it took us longer to get through every single student in my class was able to identify the addends and the sum by name and complete adding 0, adding 1, and doubles facts when asked! That little success made a huge difference and really helped me start to feel better about things.

During the week we also had a short one hour session with the Professional Development Coordinator on Culture Shock. Let me tell you, that talk came at the perfect time. She went through some of the symptoms and explained how the process is different for everyone. It was nice to hear that I wasn't the only one feeling a little down or overwhelmed.

Anticipating that my students would fill their behavior charts on Thursday I brought my sneakers in from home. When the time came I told them how proud I was and that they had earned their 15 minutes of free time and took them outside to our roof top playground. I think I looked incredibly silly in my professional dress clothes and Nike sneakers but the boys didn't seem to notice. Most of them requested to race me which was interesting considering it was at least 105 degrees, I was fasting, competing against 9 year olds and haven't had much physical exercise. Despite all of those factors against me I swear I tied the fastest boy in my class, Khaled, but he disagrees. I was told we need a rematch but I have about 3 weeks before they fill their charts again to preapre. After racing we played soccer. I scored a goal and got high fives from the boys on my team who seemed really impressed. My assistant Rana even joined in which made it even more fun.

I am getting picked up by one of my friends from school so that I may spend the afternoon and evening with her family fairly soon which means that I need to get going on my lesson planning and get ready. InshAllah I hope you are all doing well and enjoyed the pictures from Girgian. I will do my best to post again soon.

Busy busy

These past two weeks have been a blur of fasting, teaching, praying, iftars (meals after you break your fast), behavior problems, reading Quran, lesson planning, attending taravee prayers and (a little bit of) sleep. Let me first start off by apologizing for not updating this more regularly but as you can see things have just been a little hectic over here in Hawally.

Alhamdullilah I am having a wonderful Ramadan. Several of the teachers from Fawzia Sultan have invited me over to spend time and have iftar with their families. There was a period of 9 days where I did not eat in my apartment... I would wake up, go to school, come home for a couple hours, get picked up by a co-worker, eat and pray at their mosque and then get dropped off to sleep and do it all over again. MashAllah many of these women are amazing cooks and I have had the opportunity to try many different types of food. Two of the families that I have spent some time with are Syrian so I have tried at least 6 different kinds of kibay (no idea if that is spelled correctly) along with many other delicious meals. I've had Egyptian, Syrian, Arabic and even some Mexican and Chinese dishes throughout the last two weeks of being invited over to people's homes for iftar. It has been really nice having the support and friendship of these teachers and being around their families has helped me not feel quite so lonely.

I think I underestimated how stressful your first year of teaching can be. Add on to that living and teaching in a new country, being away from all of my family and friends, fasting and being given a challenging class to start off with. So far most of my students have been well behaved. We had a nice honeymoon period of one week and then my eighth student came back who completely changed the classroom dynamic. My students are very loud and like to instigate one another. I find myself constantly trying to shhh them and trying to juggle allowing them to share the stories that they so desperately need to tell and moving on to get through our lessons. I've gone through a few days of feeling like a failure and not seeing any progress and wanting to come home. Luckily I have made friends with the school psychologist who has been really supportive and I was pulled into a meeting with the school principal this afternoon to hear that she has been really impressed with my teaching and classroom and wanted me to know that. InshAllah (God willing) things will get easier.

Today we had our Girgian celebration which was really fun. Girgian is similar to Halloween in that children dress up and go around and collect candy. Instead of costumes they wear traditional Kuwaiti dress and sing an Arabic song instead of saying trick or treat. All of the elementary students were given the opportunity to go around and sing and collect candy from the high school students. Students and staff were asked to dress up for the celebration. I have posted pictures so please take a look.. my boys looked so handsome in their dishdashas. Tomorrow night is Open House where I am looking forward to meeting my students' parents. This coming Sunday we are having a school wide iftar at a local resort on the beach. It is a potluck and we are expecting 80-100 people to attend. I am part of the Social Committee at school and am responsible for helping organize and set up for the event. I will do my best to bring my camera to that event as well.

Like I said these past two weeks have been a blur. I feel like I have been on an emotional roller coaster, some days really enjoying it here and others wanting to buy a plane ticket home. I feel very fortunate to have met some wonderful people here in Kuwait who have been kind enough to invite me over and make me feel like I am a part of their families. I am enjoying the food and being less than 2 minutes walking distance away from a mosque and (for the most part) my students :) It is hard to believe that Ramadan is almost half way over. InshAllah I will post again soon.

Time is flying by...

Asalaam alaikum - peace and blessings be with you. I can barely believe it but my first week of teaching is almost over. Here in Kuwait, my work week is from Sunday to Thursday which means that after tomorrow I will have finished my first week of teaching. During Ramadan, student and teacher hours are shortened to help support those who are fasting. Believe it or not, some of my 4th graders are fasting with me. The fact that they are fasting doesn't stop them from running around playing soccer in the 110 degree heat.

I had mentioned earlier that most of the staff had warned me about my class, in fact they had painted a picture in my mind of these kids who were uncontrollable and would be so difficult to teach. Alhamdulillah (all praise belongs to Allah), I think my students are incredible and so far we have had a wonderful three days together! Every day we have gone over my four classroom expectations - Be Safe, Responsible, Respectful and Good Learners. I took these expectations and lesson plans from Natchaug Elementary School where I did my Positive Behavior Support internship last year. So far all seven of them (one has yet to show up) can name the expectations and tell me specific behaviors that they can engage in to demonstrate that they know and understand what Ms. Rebecca wants to see.

The school director, principal and school psychologist have come around to see how things are going and I've been told by my assistant that they have witnessed impressed looks and head nods in approval - so far so good :) Each and every student has their own unique personality which has started to show through. I have two students who like to remind me that "they are good boys" and "love school and their teacher". I have another one who after hearing that I was not married gave me a look of shock and told me "oh Ms. Rebecca you should get married and have a family" - I also believe that this eight year old gave a little shake of his head in disapproval! I've told my class that for now they are my children which made them all laugh. They enjoy talking, a quality I believe most elementary school students share and they love telling stories about what they did at home or during their holidays. Most of them traveled - trips to Switzerland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Dubai and Egypt. I believe only two of them stayed in the country over the summer and they too had stories to tell about their PSP games.

I have found that I tend to plan too much academic or behavioral teaching for each period which has set my lesson plans back a few days. Luckily I have been told that especially with my class, my teaching can be flexible and that working on teaching, modeling and practicing classroom behavior expectations is the most important. Today they made posters for my classroom that I will inshAllah (God willing) take pictures of and post as soon as possible. Tomorrow we are playing a Jeopardy game so they can review and have fun with their new rules and expectations. Lesson plans are not due until Sunday morning which means that I have the weekends to work on them.

At least twice a week my students receive speech and occupational services. Yesterday I accompanied them to OT. The classroom is incredible. They have ladders and ropes that they can climb as well as balance beams, a huge spinning top that they sit in and a hoppity hop (it is a toy that you step on and hop - I just love the name). The OT teacher is wonderful - knows my students and has worked with them in the past and is just so creative and effective at engaging my kids in her lesson.

I am having a great time. I really am enjoying my students, one boy who gets to school early greets me every morning with "Hello Ms. Rebecca" as I walk by after taking the staff bus from my apartment to school. The teaching staff has been very supportive. I've been getting emails and notes in my mailbox inviting me to spend iftars with their family and so far I have taken two up on their offer. Monday night I broke my fast with one of the teachers and her family. When the call to prayer for maghrib (sunset) prayer sounded we ate dates and drank water which is sunnah (the way) of prophet Muhammad (salallaho alayahi wasalaam - peace and blessings be upon him). We then prayed our maghrib prayer in her home before having the iftar or dinner meal. The food was delicious. It was a mix of Egpytian and Syrian. Once we finished dinner we then went to the mosque near her home to pray isha (night prayers) and taravee (where a portion of the Quran is recited each night during Ramadan). Men and women pray in separate areas of each mosque. In the womens section there was about 120-150 women. Although I was not able to understand the Arabic that was being spoken it was an incredible experience being with so many people in one area praying at the same time.

Last night I held my own iftar for two teachers that live in my apartment building. One women from New Zealand has decided to fast with her students. Again, we broke our fast with dates and water and then after I prayed maghrib we had a nice meal. Who knew that I would actually get use out of my dining room table? Tonight I am off to my assistant Rana's house to have dinner with her family.

InshAllah (God willing) I hope you are all doing well. I will do my best to continue sharing with you things about my class and what it is like living in a Muslim country during Ramadan. Please keep in touch and let me know how things are going with all of you.