Memorial Day Weekend - Laguna Beach

I had such an enjoyable long weekend this past weekend. Andrew and I went with our bible study "310". We stayed in self catering apartments which, surrounded by mountainous landscape that could be seen from our windows-such a change from LA!

The greatest thing about this weekend though was the Word of God. Greg Harris, who wrote the book 'The Darkness and the Glory' was the speaker.
All weekend we heard about the cross. I was convicted by a deeper understanding of what Christ did as He set His face as a flint and went to the cross for me. It was so lovely to spend each day hearing more about the Lord Jesus and that full and perfect work that He wrought on the cross and then to spend time reading the book (which Dr. Harris gave us)and talk with others about the heights and depths of what God has done for us. It was one of the best 'camps' I've been to.

Now I'm back to the grindstone for three more weeks. Next week the elementary section of SMMS is performing "Anansi the Spider and the Middle Passage". Khendyl (my colleague) and I are pretty much doing everything including making costumes so we're up the walls at the moment. I'm looking forward to our performance though. Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos (I really need a point and shoot camera of my own).
The week after that is the final week of school before the summer program. That week will probably be a week of fun events and little to no school work. I can't believe another school year has passed by again!
No long holidays for me anymore though! This year will be summer school!! I'm kind of looking forward to it though because there's time to help children catch up if they need that and a lot more extra curricular activities can be done.
Anyway that's the latest update, I will try to get some photos...

Back in LA

I got back safe and sound. Been back in work a week now. I've enjoyed it-I really love my job and get great pleasure out of my time there.
My apartment is newly carpeted and our internet is in place. I've unpacked my bags and done two laundry loads but my furniture still needs to be put back in place and my room is still up in a heap. I'm just happy to have dry floors and an absence of fans blowing!
Today Andrew and I went to Border's bookstore in Santa Monica which is closing down and had a 40% sale on everything. I got lots of bargains :) We had a seafood buffet lunch and I bought a new charger for my iPod cos I lost my old one.
We have ALMS again tomorrow so it'll be another long Sunday.
Goodnight!

Cold in LA and other ramblings...

Today it is cold in LA/Santa Monica...I had to turn the heating on in my classroom. I have the AC on now though, cos it got too warm. It's a quiet week this week because it a three day week and on Wednesday we're having a big Thanksgiving feast in the school, which I'm really looking forward to. Then it's off to Calgary on Thursday morning, which apparantly is the right time to go because traffic on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving is always the busiest in the year...I dread trying to just get home from work...
I don't know if I have enough warm clothes for Calgary. We may go ice skating or skiing!! I have a big bruise on my knee from ice skating on Saturday which I'm rather proud of, but I should probably try to not bang my knees on the ice too much... I may need to borrow some warm clothes from my Canadian friend. We Irish people aren't too into our warm clothes despite the weather we usually have :)

International Fair

We had our international fair today in school. Each of the children in my classroom had to research a country and set up a display board with artifacts. Today the parents and grandparents came around and looked at the displays and tasted the food that the children brought in. My room was very interesting. I had projects on Egypt, Denmark, France and Switzerland, Iran, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Russia and Japan. The child who was studying Iran (Persia) had his grandmother make some Persian food and also brought some delicious Persian pastries to his display. They let me take the leftovers home :) The privileges of being the class teacher :) Andrew came to have a look around the classrooms too and try out some of the food. It was really good fun, but also really exhausting!
I'm ready for bed!

St. John's Hospital

I spent the afternoon in the "ER" in St. John's Hospital Santa Monica today with one of my colleagues who fractured and dislocated his elbow. The hospital was like a hotel with Valet parking and everything. I was wondering if I'd need to pay an entrance fee :P

Wildfires in North LA

I don't know if people have been seeing news reports about this but yesterday most of my colleagues were glued to the television watching the fires in Porter Ranch which is just north of LA. The strange thing for me is that I've been in this area several times. I bought my car up there, in fact the road we took to the guy's house is the very road that was blocked off for emergency vehicles yesterday. Also, Andrew and I were in Porter Ranch on Saturday for a picnic. It seems strange to me to be so close to the wildfires that I usually hear about from thousands of miles away.
Yesterday two of my colleagues had to leave work early because they were being evacuated because of the fires. I hope their properties aren't damaged and that this evacuation will only be temporary!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-me-wildfire14-2008oct14,0,2457219.story

Hot!

My goodness! What's going on in this city? It's the 2nd of October and the temperature is 36C! This kind of heat should not be allowed, and we're right by the sea-so it should be cooler like! Today's a beach day but not for me...
I thought I'd give an outline of my day-it might be interesting for teachers at home to see.
I get into school at 7:30 ish! I have an hour of prep before the children come in. I get so much done in that hour it's great cos a lot of staff are not in yet and I think your brain works better first thing in the morning. Classes start at 8:30. We have class straight from 8:30 to 12 without a break. The children can take a snack if they wish, but usually we have a lot of work to get through so we just keep working. At 12 I have a 30 minute break-and that's 30 minutes exactly cos I have to relieve another teacher from yard duty at 12:30. I'm on yard duty from 12:30 to 1:00 then it's inside for afternoon enrichment classes.
Some days I teach history to the younger children and World Literature to the older children, on Thursdays I teach art appreciation to all the students. 2 days I don't take any afternoon enrichment classes so I am free to get planning and administration done.
On Mondays I usually stay in work until 6 getting all my planning done for the week, every other day I stay until 3:30 or 4:00.
On my way home I often have to do some shopping (I love Trader Joe's). Or else Andrew's dragging me out for a run-he won't manage today though-it's ridiculously hot! I make dinner (this is when I miss my mother the most :P ) and then I clean up and maybe relax for a little while and try to get to bed by 10-this doesn't happen much...
On Thursdays Andrew and I have our bible study with a group of people who live in South West LA and then on Fridays we have another bible study/service with another group of people in Westwood.
That's my day, and here's a photo of our first bible study meeting:

Santa Monica Montessori School

Here's some photos of the things we staff get up to in Santa Monica Montessori school such as getting a heavily pregnant staff member to demonstrate an earthquake drill and taking random photocopies while posing for photographs in the staffroom....

Stuff

Hi, I know I haven't updated this in a while. Today I've been here 2 months exactly. I'm really tired, long weekend I think. I'm very excited to hear that Naomi's walking, I want to see a video of her!! This weekend is Andrew's birthday so I might have some photos of his birthday celebrations.
For now, here's some photos of my classroom













Language Corner



My messy desk and shelves....



















Culture Materials









My classroom with the Math(s) wall behind

Day 2 on the Job

Getting settled into my new job. Making some friends there too makes the day a little more enjoyable. Getting my head around daily plans these days which means I've been working 7:30 to 6:00 the past two days. I hope I can make my planning time more efficient soon. I took the freeway to work this morning which cut my travel time in half - yay! Andrew's coming back from Canada tomorrow-even more yay!! Time for beddie byes soon. Goodnight!

First Day Back

So today I started the new school term here in LA. It's strange to still be here at this stage of the year. Usually I've returned back to Ireland by now and am starting work there...
Anyway, I think I have a nice class this year. No one was reluctant to stay and a few of them even said that 'Grade 1 is a lot of fun' which was nice to hear because I honestly winged it through a lot of my day because I arrived back late from Canada last night and I didn't do a huge amount to try and make it fun. I must just be a naturally fun person! :)
Anyway I did more planning after school this evening so there should be less winging tomorrow :)

The Strange Thing About Teaching in LA

DUCK! COVER! HOLD!
This is what we must shout to the children
Water, Pick Axe, Shovel in every classroom...
Can't leave the school site even if it takes 72 hours....
All this is our disaster plan, in case of an earthquake....
It's so strange to discuss this in a staff meeting and watch a colleague demonstrate how we should hide under a chair and protect our head and eyes...
I don't think this is a drill we'll ever have to do in an Irish classroom!

Cleaning up the Classroom

Well it seems like I might be getting to start work at 7:30 every day now instead of 8! I only have to work 40 hrs though so there are some days that I'll be able to finish earlier.
They plan to have me teaching Grades 1-3 (ages 6-9). All this week we're getting our classrooms ready. My classroom (which is rather big) looked okay when I first walked into it. Since I started cleaning it, however, it's like a bomb hit it. And I need to have it ready for tomorrow evening for the parent teacher meeting! I need to check each of the materials to ensure that each piece is there, otherwise it has to be removed from the shelf. If anyone knows anything about Montessori materials, especially maths and reading for elementary level, they'll understand what a painstaking job this can be!
I'm enjoying organising my room though and making it my own.

Knott's Berry Farm

On Friday we took some of the children to Knott's Berry Farm. This is a theme park that started out as a Berry farm and then became a restaurant and slowly evolved into a theme park. It has a wild west ghost town there. I thought it was fun and I think it's supposed to be cheaper than Disney World. I've become very nervous on roller coasters though...

My First Week At Work

My first week at work was tiring. Working 8 to 5 each day with a half hour lunch break is a bit of a shock to the system. I'm working in Santa Monica Montessori School. It's a really nice school and the children are really sweet. I spent a good bit of time helping with filing for the new school year and also with reception work. I know now that I'd never want to be a secretary, but this has been a good way to get to know the school and its procedures...
I won't be able to post any photos of the children I'll be working with but I'll try to keep you updated on how I get on in my new job.