Bandung!

Greetings from Bandung, Indonesia!

As I write this blog I am sitting in a nice squishy, soft bed in a lovely hotel in Bandung... I had to throw in squishy and soft because the beds in Viet Nam are hard as rock! This weekend I came to Bandung for a reading conference, with the amazing Susan Zimmerman, on reading comprehension and it has been a wonderful couple of days!

A few months ago my coworker, Lena, and I found this great looking conference on the EARCOS website. We were very excited to have found a reading comprehension workshop because it is our school's biggest focus this year. I was personally excited because it is something that my class struggles with, and that I could learn to teach in a much more affective way. My excitement about the conference quickly evaporated when we found out only EARCOS member were allowed to attend unless the conference still had room five days before, and it sounded like the chances of that happening were slim. On Monday, Lena received an email saying there was still room and we were invited to attend. We were obviously thrilled until we found our school would only allow one of us to attend due to the short notice. I was very happy to take that spot, however I was also extremely stressed as this was my first time traveling internationally alone and I had all of three days to find flights and accommodation! So on Tuesday I spent a LOT of time searching flights and finding out that I would be missing the afternoon of school on Friday and all day Monday. This added even more stress in prepping for a sub for the first time! However, after a few hours I was all set to go and extremely excited!

I arrived in Bandung, a small town in Indonesia, late Friday night and headed to a whole day of learning at 7:30 Saturday morning. From the beginning of Saturday morning I knew it was going to be an amazing conference. Susan was a wonderful presenter. She was easy to listen to and her passion for helping children was prominent. Throughout the weekend we learned about the 7 Keys to Comprehension by using them in adult texts and picture books. The 7 Keys seem simple and are things I have learned about before; background knowledge (schema), creating mental images, questioning, inferring, determining importance, synthesizing, and monitoring for meaning ("fix-ups"). It was remarkable the way Susan presented these simple concepts. She made us delve into our own minds and think about the strategies we use while reading. I learned so much about how I need to slow my teaching down and allow more time for thinking, writing and questioning while reading aloud. I learned how to model my thinking as I read for my students. I learned so many things that seem so obvious, yet I don't do enough of! I am so excited to get back to my class on Tuesday and apply all of the things I have learned! Not only do I think this conference will help me as a teacher, but also as a reader; which seems silly saying as an adult, but it's true!

I also met some amazing teachers at the conference. It was really nice to network with new people from various parts of Asia. I am so thankful to have other people to turn to for ideas. This weekend has, again, shown me how amazing it is teaching abroad. To have a paid for trip to Indonesia and to meet teachers from schools in so many different countries is something that I never would have experienced if I had been in the states. I am so grateful to have had this experience and to have this life right now, I hope to never take any of these experiences for granted!

I wish I would have had more time to explore Bandung, however it was a very fast weekend! Last night one of the teachers from the school took us to an awesome Indonesian restaurant. Walking in felt like what I imagine being on the set of survivor at tribal council would feel like. We walked down a long side walk past fire and waterfalls underneath heaps greenery. The whole time I was waiting for Jeff Probst to tell me, "The tribe has spoken," and extinguish the flame on my torch. Besides the amazing ambiance of the restaurant, the food was also wonderful. I love traveling to new places and trying the food, and so far Asia has yet to disappoint me! We ordered a smorgasbord of dishes including fish, veggies, chicken and tofu. My favorite was the tofu with this yummy, spicy peanut sauce.... it makes me hungry just thinking of it!

I was absolutely pooped after the conference today, and getting around Bandung is not the simplest of tasks due to traffic, so I decided to indulge in some r&r at my hotel. I was happy to lay in my SOFT bed and watch the Golden Globs (I really miss award show season and my comfy bed!!). Now I am off to get some more Indonesian food before heading to bed nice and early. Tomorrow will be a long day of traveling with a lovely five hour layover in a rather small and boring airport in Kuala Lumpur. I am excited to hear how my kiddos do with their sub tomorrow. I have good faith they will be charming students and show her why I love them so much, but you never know!

I hope you all had fun filled weekends, and to my friends and family in Iowa, I hope you are staying warm and safe with all the snow you've gotten!

xoxo,
Michelle