The Colts.

Me way happy to be watching my boys! :)

As most of you know, I am a big Colts fan. I miss a lot watching Peyton and the boys. :) So, praise the Lord, I found a website that I could stream the games live. Only problem? It's in Danish. :)

So there ya have it. I love modern technology! :)

Art Class

Since we have yet to find an art/music teacher, the teachers at our school have stepped up to teach our own kids art. 4th grade has done some pretty awesome projects so far, such as magazine collages, insects made out of leaves/twigs/rocks/etc, 'old' paper, and paintings of Charlotte's Web. It's actually been fun teaching art (thank you Art for Teachers class and Kathy Herrmann!). Anyways, if you have any more ideas about a good art project for 2-3 days a week, let me know! Next up: puppet shows for Charlotte's Web. This week: dancing. practicing for Día de la Raza!

nature's insects

my collage ^

students' collages

My Classroom!

Welcome to 4th Grade! :)

the classic door.

the cubby area, behind here is the reading corner

my favorite--the reading corner. it's a little nook. the kids love reading there.

the back of the classroom

the front of the classroom

The back of the classroom--jobs, world map, birthdays, insect poster, and the Stoplight, Stop, Go signs that Josue posted. oh and the most essential classroom object in the top left corner--the fan!

Charlotte's Web bulletin board. yes. i did make the web.

writing corner...with the Scientific Method poster

our daily schedule

the bulletin board outside--we made collages in Art the first week, the kids loved it! (we don't have an art teacher yet, so all the teachers teach their own art classes. I love it!)

Miss Brewer's collage (click on the picture to make it bigger. please note the: Miss Brewer Rocks along the bottom...yes.)

enjoy! it doesn't look too bad, eh? :)

A video tour

The other day (and by the other day, I mean a few weeks ago) Karyn and I were traveling back from Santiago visiting my friend Kristen and we had to take a gua-gua. What is a "gua-gua" you ask? Basically it's an old beat up van that we shoved 20 people into with all their belongings...aka plants, bags of groceries, etc. I snapped a few pictures of the trip and a few videos too. I've uploaded the videos onto my blog and uploaded a slideshow of the few pictures that I took. I hope you can get a picture of what it's like to drive up the mountain into the valley of Jarabacoa. :)

I am not sure if you can tell, but these little roadside stands are RIGHT next to the riverbank. Literally if you took one step backwards, you would fall into the river. It's crazy!

chipotle ain't got nothin'! :)

yes. here are glorious pictures of the masterpiece created by the one and only karyn staats. now do you understand why i have her as a roommate? bam-son.

1st day of school!

Hooray! Today was the long-awaited first day of school. I was excited beyond belief, as I'm sure some of you can imagine, to see my students from last year, this year, and my young friends from 1st and 2nd grade.

Today definitely lived up to its expectation. The triplets were shy (except for Josue!) and the rest of my kids from last year gave me hugs. I got a good surprise as one of the students that I thought was going to the US, actually is back here again this year! Hooray! :)

I was so excited because this week I am teaching both 3rd and 4th grade. Our 3rd grade teacher (hopefully coming soon!!) is not here yet, so many of us are having to double up our first week. Thankfully my schedule works almost perfectly to be able to teach both without much overlap.

Having 18 kids this year (6 more desks than last year!) is certainly overwhelming and exciting at the same time. It makes my classroom seem so much smaller, but I'm really thankful to be able to have all of the kids that I do have. Hopefully we can keep everything running smoothly and in great order.

As far as recruiting stuff goes, we're still looking for a 2nd and 6th grade teacher. We have an "almost certain" 3rd grade teacher but awaiting final confirmation. Things have definitely settled down here a lot, as we had much turmoil at the beginning of the year. now we're just playing the waiting game...and planning for the weeks ahead! :)

Have I ever mentioned that I love teaching? because I do.

and to top it all off, my amazing amiga is making faux-Chipotle burritos for dinner. can life get any better?

Rabbits and Hot Dogs

The other day when I was walking home...after I walked in the gate, I looked at the tree across the fence and there was a hairless rabbit hanging from the tree. The only hair that was still on the rabbit was its head! :) Ay! After much deliberation, I decided to go ask the young man if I could take a picture of his nasty rabbit. Of course he agreed for the "Americana" so here it is...in all its glory! :) (sans head...and insides)

AND one of the best parts about being back in the Dominican Republic is the HOT DOGS! The first night after we were here, Karyn and I ordered yummy Moshe's hot dogs (our favorites!)...and maybe to you it may not look that appetizing, but for me...yummmmmmmmm!! :) Just imagine...hot dog, perfectly cooked, sliced open with mayonaise, ketchup, lettuce, cheese, and (new addition recently) beef delicately strewn upon the glory. The hot dog bun toasted to a golden brown warm and not too thick. Wow. Can life get better? :)