I am back in Vietnam and back to blogging! I've been back for two months now, so I figure it's time to update everyone back home what I am up to!
Since I got back to Vietnam I have been keeping more than busy at school and I am loving every second of it... well almost every second of it! I am back in second grade with ten gorgeous kids in my class. I feel extremely lucky to only have such a small class this year, but they are still keeping me on my toes.
The sweet babies of 2C who make every day at work fun!
I am very happy to be teaching grade two again this year. It has been such a growing experience reflecting on the things that went well and didn't go well last year. My goals this year to make my classroom look awesome with fun and inviting decorations and anchor charts (If my kids are looking at me, hopefully they'll still be learning something!), improve how I teach my English language arts block, and teach more vocabulary. Right away I set up my classroom just how I had imagined it to look. The pictures below are from before my kiddos came, now I have anchor charts EVERYWHERE and the reading pool is filled to the brim with pillows and stuffed friends to read with.
The Reading Cove. Two kids get to read in the pool each day, they love it!
My word wall where our weekly vocabulary words go. The kids are so good at using all the new words they've been using. I promise it's no longer empty :)
And finally, our library. It is organized by categories and not levels.
One of my personal goals this year was to improve my ELA block,
especially writing, which leads me to the past weekend I spent at a
professional development in Bangkok where I learned about the 6 +1
traits of writing. Call me a nerd, but I absolutely love going to PD's..
and it doesn't hurt that I get to travel like to places like Thailand
and Indonesia to learn! I learned a ton on improving how I teach
writing with the program my school is using this year. Since most of my friends reading this aren't teachers, I won't bore you
with all the details of the traits, but I will tell you what they are:
Ideas, organization, sentence fluency, word choice, voice, conventions,
and the plus one, presentation. I love teaching
writing and even more than that, I love reading student writing. They are so
creative! I learned how to integrate writing into all subjects using focused writing prompts, how to score writing using one trait at a time, and of course ideas and activities on how to teach each trait. I am so excited to start implimenting what I learned into my everyday routines in class!
Besides my own goals, this year our school wide goal is to improve our students' vocabulary since almost all of our kiddos are English language learners. Each week we pick four vocabulary words out of a book we are reading. The kids record them in a vocab journal along with a picture, a definition in their own words and other things they know about the word like how to say it in their mother tongue, synonyms, antonyms, or a sentence using the word. We encourage them to use them in their writing and speaking every day. Some of the favorite new words so far are murmured, clever, and exclaimed. It's been so fun and rewarding watching the kids use their new words and it has really improved their writing already.
While things are going awesome at school, things are going just as great outside of school! This year I am in a new apartment, in a new part of town, and with new roommates. I left my high rise apartment in China Town for a nice town house down a quiet alley in district 7. I have three new roommates who have been a lot of fun to live with and I am loving our quiet neighborhood. However, I think the coolest difference in my living situation this year is the fact that our house has rooftop pool! I feel pretty spoiled when I get home on a hot day and jump into our private pool! It has also made for a few nice gatherings this year!
Another reason I am loving our house is the location. We are a ten minute walk from a really nice grocery store and about five minutes from a huge local market. It is so cheap to walk down and get eggs, veggies, tofu and lot of other goodies! Our house is located off a super busy street, but we are in a really quiet alley and a couple little corner stores owned by really nice Vietnamese people. We are also right across the street from some of our other friends from school. One thing I have yet to do is take pictures of our house, so, if I ever get around to it, I will be sure to post a few!
Besides my awesome house and roommates, I have been some great new friends in the new teacher that we hired. I am always wondering how I ended up so lucky to be working with such awesome people! This fall we have had a lot exploring the city, going out and even a nice long weekend on the beach. Instead of boring you with all the details, here are a few pictures that sum up the last two months....
In my attempt to not bore you and to keep this blog short, I will end with an awesome video that is circulating on Facebook and gives a little insight to this crazy city I call home. (Click on the word "video," the clip is linked there) Thanks for continuing to read my blog even after I go on a four+ month hiatus, you are amazing!
Until next time,
Mich
