Tomorrow, September 1st, is the first day of Ramadan. Therefore, I wanted to share something with you some information that talks about this special month and the reasoning behind why it is so special and sacred to Muslims. InshAllah (God willing) I will do my best to continue posting throughout this month to share with you my experiences of being in a country where almost everyone is fasting and participating in this special month.
Ramadan is the name of the ninth month of the Islamic moon calendar. It is very important because it is the month in which the glorious Quran was first sent down by Allah to the prophet Muhammad salallaho alayhi wasallam (peace and blessings be upon him). During Ramadan, Muslims must fast. We don't eat or drink between dawn and sunset and we should be very careful to speak and behave in the right way. We learn many things from fasting during Ramadan. It is a time to increase our remebrance of Allah and remember the blessings which we have been given.
We learn how to be thankful for the good things we normally take for granted. After fasting all day we realize just how wonderful food and drink taste, so we thank Allah more sincerely for providing us with enough to eat and satisfy our thirst. Ramadan is a good form of training. There may come moments or times in life when things are not easy, and we have to carry on even though it is difficult. By fasting we learn to be patient with such times and to control ourselves and our bodies - this is called self discipline. During this holy month the prophet salallaho alayhi waslaam said: "the doors of Heaven are open and the doors of Hell closed and the devils are chained." This helps us see ourselves as we really are, not under the influence of unseen evil forces. We can watch and improve ourselves more especially by reading the Quran and going to the mosque to join in our taravee prayers.
In Ramadan there is a special night that is better than one thousand months, it is called Lalaytul Qadr, the night in which the Quran was first revealed, a night in which all our sins can be forgiven. Fasting is also important because it makes the rich equal to the poor. It gives them a chance to realize what life is like for the less fortunate, those who have little or no food. This helps them become more charitable and give generously of their wealth to the needy so that they too can enjoy and share the blessings of Allah, which are enough for all.
Tomorrow is also my first day of teaching, so please continue to check back to see how I am doing handling the eight boys! I posted some pictures of my classroom that I finally finishing setting up today so please take a look.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Getting my classroom ready
I cannot believe that another week has gone by. Our pre-service training started this past Sunday. Sunday morning started out with an ice breaker activity which brought me back to my CA training days at UConn. While Fawzia Sultan is a small school with only about 150 enrolled students, the administrative and teaching staff (including assistants) is quite large - over 50 people. I have been doing my best to learn and remember the names of the teachers and assistants. The director was smart and had us all wear name tags which has been a huge help.
This week has been a blur of meetings, paperwork, and trying to get organized. As I said in an earlier post, I have been asked to teach 4th grade. When introducing myself and the grade I will be teaching at my first departmental meeting, all of the teachers and assistants save two or three gasped and said, "oh no!", "those kids are awful", and "you are going to have your hands full". I have the largest class in the elementary school - 8 boys. I have been working on pronouncing their names. Most of them are on Behavior Intervention Plans and several have been diagnosed with emotional disturbance. We had a meeting with all of the specials teachers, the school psychologist, as well as the third grade teacher and assistant from last year where we went over each student's needs in depth. While most of the grade meetings took 15-20 minutes, mine lasted a bit longer.. lasting over an hour and cutting into another teachers scheduled time. Although it was a bit overwhelming, I am looking at this as a challenge and opportunity to put the last 17 years of my schooling to the test. I have a wonderful assistant who is as excited about this year as I am.
Cleaning, organizing and arranging my classroom has been a ton of work but so exciting. I have been taking pictures throughout the process which are posted with my other two albums. The last teacher who had my room was a bit of a pack rat which has had its ups and downs. While it has been a lot of work going through the shelves and drawers and tossing out things that I will not use, I have also found some really great treasures. She left me five or six pillows which as allowed me to create a little reading corner for my kids. Unfortunately due to computer problems I have yet to read and review my students' IEPS (individualized education plans). I was able to log on from another teacher's computer and was able to get an idea about some of their ability levels. It looks like I will be teaching two separate language arts and math lessons per day - the grade levels of my kids range from 2nd to 5th. Although I am both tired and a little overwhelmed, I am so excited for this year to begin.
Our first day of school is Monday. We are starting on our shortened days schedule for Ramadan. This means that instead of teaching from 8-2, the students are only in the building from 9-1. Many of my fourth graders will be fasting with me. I will be sure and write again once school begins to share what my first few days are like and give you some more information about Ramadan.
I really am enjoying Kuwait. I have made some friends here, fellow teachers who live in my apartment building. The two women that I spend most of my free time with will both be teaching in the high school. They are both retired and have worked in Kuwait in previous years. One woman is from New Zealand (with such an excellent accent) and the other is from Canada. We went out to City Center a few days ago which is this big shopping plaza where many local Kuwaiti people go. It was very different from the two malls I went to last week which have very high end stores and boutiques. City Center is filled with a really great grocery store and tiny little shops where you can purchase things for 100 fils (I don't know the exact conversion price but know its really inexpensive.. 1 KD is a little less than $4 USD so you can do the math - good thing I am using a scripted math program for my kids!). The grocery store is located on the second floor of the building while the cashiers are on the bottom. I know it sounds confusing but the way you get your cart down to the cashiers is on a moving walkway ramp. At first I thought they were escalators but then saw someone with their shopping cart full of groceries on their way down the ramp. It is the neatest thing! Somehow the cart wheels just lock in place and it doesn't roll anywhere.. I held onto mine for dear life because I could just see it rolling down the ramp and running someone over. The woman from Canada and I have also tried to get into the routine of talking nightly walks for exercise and to get out and see our surroundings. I am getting a little more comfortable walking on the side of the road.. Kuwait doesn't really have sidewalks so you usually end up walking right up close to the shops or on the side of the road. I will try and remember to take my camera with me next time I go - there are so many things that I am fascinated by and would like to share.
I hope you are all doing well. I would love to hear from you. Thank you to all who have left me comments, they are a nice surprise every time I log in and check. I am also signed up for Skype so those of you who would like to chat, email and let me know so we can figure out a time that is convenient. Please keep in touch and I will do my best to update this as often as I can come up with something exciting to share.
This week has been a blur of meetings, paperwork, and trying to get organized. As I said in an earlier post, I have been asked to teach 4th grade. When introducing myself and the grade I will be teaching at my first departmental meeting, all of the teachers and assistants save two or three gasped and said, "oh no!", "those kids are awful", and "you are going to have your hands full". I have the largest class in the elementary school - 8 boys. I have been working on pronouncing their names. Most of them are on Behavior Intervention Plans and several have been diagnosed with emotional disturbance. We had a meeting with all of the specials teachers, the school psychologist, as well as the third grade teacher and assistant from last year where we went over each student's needs in depth. While most of the grade meetings took 15-20 minutes, mine lasted a bit longer.. lasting over an hour and cutting into another teachers scheduled time. Although it was a bit overwhelming, I am looking at this as a challenge and opportunity to put the last 17 years of my schooling to the test. I have a wonderful assistant who is as excited about this year as I am.
Cleaning, organizing and arranging my classroom has been a ton of work but so exciting. I have been taking pictures throughout the process which are posted with my other two albums. The last teacher who had my room was a bit of a pack rat which has had its ups and downs. While it has been a lot of work going through the shelves and drawers and tossing out things that I will not use, I have also found some really great treasures. She left me five or six pillows which as allowed me to create a little reading corner for my kids. Unfortunately due to computer problems I have yet to read and review my students' IEPS (individualized education plans). I was able to log on from another teacher's computer and was able to get an idea about some of their ability levels. It looks like I will be teaching two separate language arts and math lessons per day - the grade levels of my kids range from 2nd to 5th. Although I am both tired and a little overwhelmed, I am so excited for this year to begin.
Our first day of school is Monday. We are starting on our shortened days schedule for Ramadan. This means that instead of teaching from 8-2, the students are only in the building from 9-1. Many of my fourth graders will be fasting with me. I will be sure and write again once school begins to share what my first few days are like and give you some more information about Ramadan.
I really am enjoying Kuwait. I have made some friends here, fellow teachers who live in my apartment building. The two women that I spend most of my free time with will both be teaching in the high school. They are both retired and have worked in Kuwait in previous years. One woman is from New Zealand (with such an excellent accent) and the other is from Canada. We went out to City Center a few days ago which is this big shopping plaza where many local Kuwaiti people go. It was very different from the two malls I went to last week which have very high end stores and boutiques. City Center is filled with a really great grocery store and tiny little shops where you can purchase things for 100 fils (I don't know the exact conversion price but know its really inexpensive.. 1 KD is a little less than $4 USD so you can do the math - good thing I am using a scripted math program for my kids!). The grocery store is located on the second floor of the building while the cashiers are on the bottom. I know it sounds confusing but the way you get your cart down to the cashiers is on a moving walkway ramp. At first I thought they were escalators but then saw someone with their shopping cart full of groceries on their way down the ramp. It is the neatest thing! Somehow the cart wheels just lock in place and it doesn't roll anywhere.. I held onto mine for dear life because I could just see it rolling down the ramp and running someone over. The woman from Canada and I have also tried to get into the routine of talking nightly walks for exercise and to get out and see our surroundings. I am getting a little more comfortable walking on the side of the road.. Kuwait doesn't really have sidewalks so you usually end up walking right up close to the shops or on the side of the road. I will try and remember to take my camera with me next time I go - there are so many things that I am fascinated by and would like to share.
I hope you are all doing well. I would love to hear from you. Thank you to all who have left me comments, they are a nice surprise every time I log in and check. I am also signed up for Skype so those of you who would like to chat, email and let me know so we can figure out a time that is convenient. Please keep in touch and I will do my best to update this as often as I can come up with something exciting to share.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
I made it to Kuwait!
Here it is - the blog that I have been promising everyone. This is one way I hope to keep those who are interested up to date with how things are going and my experiences living and working in Kuwait.
My journey to Kuwait began Monday afternoon. Both of my parents took the day off from work so not only did I get to spend a little more time with them, they were also able to help me carry my six bags of luggage. After saying goodbye and some additional security screening, I had a short one hour flight from Bradley to Washington D.C where I then had a six hour layover. To pass the time I walked around, found a Dunkin Donuts for one last strawberry frosted donut and bought an Internet pass for a couple hours. My flight from Washington D.C. to Kuwait City ended up being about 11 hours long - I was able to sleep for most of it and ended up watching Chronicles of Narnia and an episode of House. We left Washington at 10 PM on Monday and arrived in Kuwait at 5 PM on Tuesday (9 AM Eastern Standard Time).
Once we landed I made my way through the airport. The temporary work visa which was stamped in my passport allowed me to get through customs without a problem. I was relieved to find that all six of bags made it with me to Kuwait. After fitting all of my luggage on a small cart and having it x-rayed I made my way out of the airport and found the director of Fawzia Sultan International School and the elementary school principal waiting for me.
All the new teachers (there are five of us) are getting settled in and have finished our second day of orientation. The goal for our orientation is to get us used to the heat (today it was 117 degrees), get an idea of what Kuwait is like and ease us into the new culture and lifestyle. Wednesday we spent the morning at the Avenues Mall which is by far the biggest mall I have ever seen. I did a little shopping in Carrefour - mostly for groceries. Today, Thursday, we went to the Souq Sharq mall, which is right next to the waterfront and the Kuwait Towers. Orientation has included lunches out, both very familiar styles of food and restaurant chains - Chili's and Johnny Carrino's. Tomorrow is Friday the weekly holy day. That means that most businesses and restaurants will be closed, especially during the afternoon congregational prayer (zuhr). There is a mosque right next door to my apartment, only one building away. Five times a day you can hear the athan or call to prayer and watch as people drop what they are doing and head inside to pray.
So far I am really happy here in Kuwait. Although the heat is nothing like I have ever experienced before, its bearable. I am looking forward to Sunday when we will get a chance to go to the school for a tour and get to see our classrooms. I've been asked to teach 4th grade this year, a change from what I was originally told. Because of my behavioral and Positive Behavior Support background, the elementary coordinator and director think that I am best suited for their fourth graders. I'm looking forward to the next few days of having very little to do because I can only imagine how busy I will be once I start teaching.
My journey to Kuwait began Monday afternoon. Both of my parents took the day off from work so not only did I get to spend a little more time with them, they were also able to help me carry my six bags of luggage. After saying goodbye and some additional security screening, I had a short one hour flight from Bradley to Washington D.C where I then had a six hour layover. To pass the time I walked around, found a Dunkin Donuts for one last strawberry frosted donut and bought an Internet pass for a couple hours. My flight from Washington D.C. to Kuwait City ended up being about 11 hours long - I was able to sleep for most of it and ended up watching Chronicles of Narnia and an episode of House. We left Washington at 10 PM on Monday and arrived in Kuwait at 5 PM on Tuesday (9 AM Eastern Standard Time).
Once we landed I made my way through the airport. The temporary work visa which was stamped in my passport allowed me to get through customs without a problem. I was relieved to find that all six of bags made it with me to Kuwait. After fitting all of my luggage on a small cart and having it x-rayed I made my way out of the airport and found the director of Fawzia Sultan International School and the elementary school principal waiting for me.
All the new teachers (there are five of us) are getting settled in and have finished our second day of orientation. The goal for our orientation is to get us used to the heat (today it was 117 degrees), get an idea of what Kuwait is like and ease us into the new culture and lifestyle. Wednesday we spent the morning at the Avenues Mall which is by far the biggest mall I have ever seen. I did a little shopping in Carrefour - mostly for groceries. Today, Thursday, we went to the Souq Sharq mall, which is right next to the waterfront and the Kuwait Towers. Orientation has included lunches out, both very familiar styles of food and restaurant chains - Chili's and Johnny Carrino's. Tomorrow is Friday the weekly holy day. That means that most businesses and restaurants will be closed, especially during the afternoon congregational prayer (zuhr). There is a mosque right next door to my apartment, only one building away. Five times a day you can hear the athan or call to prayer and watch as people drop what they are doing and head inside to pray.
So far I am really happy here in Kuwait. Although the heat is nothing like I have ever experienced before, its bearable. I am looking forward to Sunday when we will get a chance to go to the school for a tour and get to see our classrooms. I've been asked to teach 4th grade this year, a change from what I was originally told. Because of my behavioral and Positive Behavior Support background, the elementary coordinator and director think that I am best suited for their fourth graders. I'm looking forward to the next few days of having very little to do because I can only imagine how busy I will be once I start teaching.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Fawzia Sultan International School
Below is some information from the Fawzia Sultan website..
Fawzia Sultan International School is a non-profit K-12 American International School dedicated to serving the educational needs of children with learning differences. It is a highly resourced school operating on the principles of effective team planning and featuring advanced IT in all of its academic subjects. It is widely recognized in Kuwait and the Gulf of Arabia region for providing effective child centered and solution oriented instructional support services. The school facility is a new purpose built building in an urban setting and has relatively small classes where students receive extra assistance when needed. The high school offers both academic and modified programs designed to prepare students with learning challenges for a high school diploma in an American curriculum format. The school is governed by an appointed volunteer board of trustees and is an associate member of the international organization NESA.
The school facility is a new purpose built building located in an urban setting that has extensive physical education resources, and houses the best possible facilities:
Fawzia Sultan International School is a non-profit K-12 American International School dedicated to serving the educational needs of children with learning differences. It is a highly resourced school operating on the principles of effective team planning and featuring advanced IT in all of its academic subjects. It is widely recognized in Kuwait and the Gulf of Arabia region for providing effective child centered and solution oriented instructional support services. The school facility is a new purpose built building in an urban setting and has relatively small classes where students receive extra assistance when needed. The high school offers both academic and modified programs designed to prepare students with learning challenges for a high school diploma in an American curriculum format. The school is governed by an appointed volunteer board of trustees and is an associate member of the international organization NESA.
The school facility is a new purpose built building located in an urban setting that has extensive physical education resources, and houses the best possible facilities:
- 21 fully equipped, newly furnished spacious classrooms
- 1 well equipped two-tier library and media center
- 1 large gymnasium with squash courts, fitness equipment, basketball and volleyball courts
- 1 large heated swimming pool
- 1 theater
- fully equipped science laboratories
- 4 well equipped modern English and Arabic computer laboratories
- 1 physical skills center
- 1 speech and language center
- 1 infirmary
- 1 school canteen with indoor and outdoor seating area
- 1 music studio
- 1 art studio
- 1 student counseling offices
- 1 conference room
- School mosque
- Psychological Services Office
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