check!

another parent teacher conference day (and evening) under the belt!  and i survived!  parents were mostly pretty happy and of course it's not the parents that you need to talk to that show up!  it's the B students who want an A or the A students who want an A+.  but it was fine.  i only got 2 angry parents who say that i am the reason that their son or daughter did not get honour roll or high honour roll because their lowest marks are in my class.  i said that i don't give marks, but students earn them.  i was able to back myself in both cases and show just how exactly their son or daughter could have improved their marks and earned a higher grade in my class. 

next up, a full day of assessment training tomorrow.  yes!  on the weekend!  sheesh!  this is going to significantly affect my shopping/tv watching schedule!

three reasons i love my job

1.  i'm reading the novel "the tales of despereaux" to my class.  we're only like 7 chapters in and they are HOOKED.  they love it.  when i asked for opinions of the book after only having read 4 chapters, one boys' response was:

"ms.  i really like the book a lot.  when you are reading, there is so much descriptions that it's like a moving playing in my head" he says as he closes his eyes and touches his forehead. 

AH-DOR-ABLE!

2.  a conversation between myself and a rather large boy in my class:

S:  ms.  i have very bad news.  i have to tell you but you can't tell anyone ok?

ME (worried):  ok s.  what's wrong?

S:  well ms., *whispering* i think i'm being stalked!

ME (trying not to laugh):  oh really?!  what makes you think that?

S:  well ms., there is someone who keeps following me.  and she isn't very cute.  and everywhere i go ms., if i look behind me, she is there!

ME (trying REALLY hard not to laugh): oh dear!  well, i'm sure that it's just a coincidence. 

S:  no ms.!  it isn't!  and do you want to know the worst part ms.?  *whispers* it's a girl!

ME:  *hysterical cackle out loud*

S:  ms. it isn't funny!  what should i do ms.?

ME:  you know s, in a few years you aren't going to think that this was quite so bad!  i want you to test your theory tomorrow and keep me posted ok?  

S:  ok ms.

ME:  plus s, she's probably cute!!  *more cackling*

3.  sitting at my desk, well after the kids should be gone home, a young girl comes in my class.  

H:  ah, hi ms.  

ME:  hi h.

H:  ah, ms., do you want to hear the poem that i made up at recess about the boys?

ME:  yes, please!

H:  ah, ok ms.  "go east, go west, you snore like a pig!"  oh.  i guess that doesn't really rhyme does it?

ME:  well not quite.  let's try this, "go west, go east, you snore like a beast!"  

H:  *laughing* ok, bye ms. 

knock on wood...

my classes were so good today!  in fact, my "bad" class was even better than my "good" class today.  is it a full moon?  what's happening??  fingers crossed that this continues tomorrow!!!  i love it!

learning every day.

after two hours of tutoring, one hour of english and math, and one hour of science, my head hurts.  but i learned something.  grade 6 science is hard, and  it's a good thing i'm an english teacher!!  thank goodness for science teachers like lindsay!

but who's counting??

three days till we're off for a week.
two days left with the students.
one day of parent teacher interviews.
six days till qatar.


seven and a half weeks till christmas vacation. 

good one!

today was a good day.
i woke up feeling a bit less sore after night two in my own bed (i will be going out to purchase a new mattress this weekend)
i had a good day at school - my kids were not spectacular but they were pretty good - but i had a really great lesson that worked out just so!
i got paid!  and got a bank account!  and atm card.  and pin number!  YAHOOO!!
i got wireless internet!

not bad right?! 

oh and i decided i'm getting a kitten....
love you mom!  xo

t-t-t-today!

today was the second full day of school with students for the 2011/2012 school year.
today lindsay and i had a tea party during period one...before either of us even started teaching for the day.
today one of my boys told me i had a nice haircut.
today one of my classes ready SILENTLY for over 10 minutes!  i was shocked.
today i got all my kids settled into their lockers...though some still can't use a lock...
today lindsay and i had a second tea party before lunch.  we needed tea!
today i was actually quite productive on my spares!
today another one of my boys gave me an origami shirt that he made.  he wrote "to ms. emily" on it.  he is adorable.
today i had two major leg cramps and one made me cry.  i felt silly but it hurt SO much!
today i was trying to do some homework but i fell asleep. 
today i didn't go on the treadmill cause of my leg.
today phil made a delicious dinner as always.  too bad he messed up the corn. HAHAHA just kidding philly bear!!
today is wednesday, which means tomorrow is thursday, which means WEEKEND!  YAY!
today was a good day.

from brother luke

on Saturday night we had our year end celebration for the teachers of CIS.  there are 14 of us who are leaving this year and the social committee and other staff members made presentations to those of us who are leaving.  each departing staff member had a little speech written about them by one of their friends or teaching partners.  i was lucky to have my speech written by my teaching partner/friend/brother LUKE!  (luke and i share the same last name...so he's obviously my brother!!)  anyway, although luke couldn't be there, he had kelly read my speech to me, and it was so lovely that i wanted to share it with you. 

dearest sister emily,

i am so happy to have shared our first year of teaching grade 5 together.  you just may have been the perfect teaching partner.  with your thoughtfulness toward our students as well as our colleagues, your ability to keep track of all the craziness we encountered throughout the year and to deal with it, and your ability to keep a sense of humour through it all made my year not tolerable, but enjoyable.  when things got overwhelming, you were like my rock, always willing to help out and always eager to share ideas and work together.  but possibly the best part of working with you, was your easy going nature.  everything was just...easy.  you were so flexible and willing to adapt to whatever situation was thrown at us.  you were so forgiving and patient if i forgot about something or screwed something up.  it was a pleasure and an honor to work with you.  

it's difficult to say in words how much i appreciate you, so i think i will express my thoughts through an acrostic poem.

E - E is for emancipation proclamation, because you set your students' minds FREEEEE!

M - M is for macaroni, because it's really, really good, and so are you.

I - I is for "i can't believe we only did ONE karaoke night together!"  But it was the best karaoke night ever.

L - L is for loveable. isn't emily just so darn loveable???

Y - Y is for yellowstone national park.  the home of "old faithful"..  emily is not old, but like old faithful, she can be relied upon.

A - A is for awesome!

B - B is for boat.  if our cruise ship went down, i would want to be in emily's life boat.

B - B is for beer, because it's really, really good, and so are you. 

O - O is for oxygen, because you're like a breath of fresh air.

T - T is for terrible, as in, it's terrible that you're leaving us.

T - T is for terrific, as in, although i'll miss you, it's terrific that you are off an another adventure in another amazing new land.

i'll miss you sis.

love luke

I KNOW RIGHT!  i cried like a baby (as i'm sure my mom is after reading this).  i feel blessed to have worked with you brother luke.  thank you.  thank you.  thank you. 

"hi, may? where did you go???"

um....it's june!  how did this happen??  where did may go??  and why did it go in such a hurry???

i like june.  don't get me wrong.  here are some of the wonderful things that happen in june:

june 4 - my parents will celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary!

june 9 - CIS will hold it's 2nd annual Art for Action event.

june 15 - it's my momma's birthday!

june 24 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! (but i will miss my kids!)

june 26 - MY birthday!!!

june 27 - leave HCMC, via hong kong, headed for the promise land!

june 28 - cow and i will arrive at our "summer home" in wawa!

add to that more birthdays of wonderful friends and colleagues along with some not so wonderful goodbyes and that's that.  JUNE.  whoa.  it will be over before we know it.

very creative!

right now i have art club in my room.  

i have children with the following names:

MIN

RIN

LINH

MIN HO

MIN SEOK

JIN TAK

i'm not even joking.  and all but one are korean...hmmm....

time flies!

can you believe that in only 10 weeks i'll be done my contract in vietnam?!  i can't!!  i feel like it wasn't that long ago that i moved here!!  and now it's almost time to go!!  we have two weeks of teaching, one week in china(!!!), then seven more weeks of teaching, then HOME!  

in that time i have my class trip to hoi an, a staff trip to hoi an, and hopefully a weekend trip to phu quoc. 

i also have to figure out how to get cow to canada, close up all accounts here in HCMC, work on getting cow to kuwait, and of course, pack, pack, pack.  

PHEW!  only TEN weeks!!!!!!!!!!!! 

me in cartoon.

one of my students drew this picture of me.  i love it.  it's awesome.  apparently this is what i would look like if i were a korean cartoon.  good to know!  :)

who decides??

i just had a moment. only for the second or third time in my career that i can remember...
i am sitting here watching my class having free time and listening to their ALL ENGLISH conversations. and i wonder "who decided that I could be in charge of the lives of these young, wonderful children?? when did i become "adult" enough for this to happen each and every day?? i love my job (inside the classroom)!! i'm going to miss these little rugrats next year! and then again, who decided i could teach grade 5?! i'm kinda scared.

i remember my first day of teaching ever. in wawa. in the room i went to kindergarten in. all FOUR of my students had arrived and everyone else was gone. it was just us. and i wondered...who decided i can do this? what is going on here???