I'm alive...barely

Sorry, time has been flying and it just realized that it has been almost 3 weeks since my last post. Things have been crazy here. School has been hectic lately due to ISA testing (International standardized tests similar to ITBS) and the MS creative arts show other various missed blocks. It has been stressful trying to plan, but even more stressful was first quarter progress reports, which came out last week. We do not give the typical letter grade with the IB program; instead the students receive a "level", determined by a rubric (and our professional judgment) for a variety of criteria in each subject. They also are assessed on 7 skills--some related to behavior and others to study habits--which are all given a level. So pretty much they get 100+ numbers and the parents are left to figure out what they all mean. :-P  We have parent/teacher conferences in the upcoming week and we are expecting a lot of confused parents.  Anyway, in Spanish they receive five levels. So I was busy giving each student their five academic criteria, their ATL levels, as well as writing a narrative using the specific guidelines and language of the middle school. This weekend is pretty much the first Saturday that I haven't gone into work. There was just so much to do!

Life isn't all bad though. I really do like teaching. Some days are hard, but most days are very enjoyable. My 8th graders are my favorite because they are such a fun group of kids. They aren't afraid to do the crazy dances or sing the songs I teach them. hehe. They even helped me make an Emociones poster by taking pictures displaying a variety of emotions. It turned out pretty funny. Now they are trying to get me to take them to Spain since the Korean classes all went on a field trip. I am trying to find someplace local I can take them to see the culture, but we'll see what I can find here. 

Besides work, not much has been going on these past few weeks. Last weekend was our Homecoming/50th Anniversary celebration so Friday we had a big assembly. They brought back distinguished alumni, some of which had amazing stories about how much has changed since they were here 50 years ago. After the assembly on Friday there was an awesome buffet, however it got really cold and we were eating outside! Saturday was when most of the festivities were held. They had an event in conjunction with the XC meet down by the river where people had 50 minutes to visit 6 stations, do tasks, and get points. I helped man one of the stations. After a BBQ lunch, they had a lot of yard games, soccer, frisbee golf, food, crafts, etc. I went to visit the location of our new school (to open Aug. 2010). It was really nice, but really far outside the city compared to our current location. Then, I came back to school to work a bit before joining everyone for dinner. It was fun to see so many of my students outside of school and with their families.  And the food was delicious. We had a hog roast...real pork!! Like IA style! :) Afterwards was a great fireworks show and a good night's rest. 

Well, this post is kind of long considering not much has been going on other than school, volleyball games, local shopping, and resting when I get the chance. I promise it will not be so long until I write again because I have some travel plans coming up. Next weekend DMZ (I'm going to N. Korea!) and the following Thursday Tokyo!