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!