Medical Issues

Just a quick blog about my current medical situation. 

Ever since I arrived back in this country I was sick.  It was like 3 weeks of a cold.  I eventually got my medical card and headed to the doctor.  Not due to the cold, but the lump on my throat.  The ultrasound revealed that it was on my thyroid and filled with fluid, which is a good thing.  It's much better being filled with fluid instead of being solid.  Easier to drain and figure out what is going on.  In addition to having the ultrasound I had blood work to check my thyroid and iron levels.  Every thing is fine with my thyroid!  My iron levels are low, which might explain why I have been exhausted, so I am taking iron supplements.  After they found out that the lump was filled with liquid they needed to schedule the fine needle aspiration (FNA).   The procedure had to be approved by my insurance company.  I was totally surprised by how fast that went!  I mean I thought I would have to wait at least a week.  I know how this country works!  But it was approved the following day and my ultrasound was scheduled for that same weekend!!  Wow!  See, they can do it if they want to:)

Fara, my neighbor and passenger to and from school, went with me for the FNA.  I wasn't sure how I would feel, or how much pain I would be in afterwards.   Deborah drove us.  It was really nice that they were both so concerned about me.  Very supportive.  We got to the hospital and I found out I had to go to checkout (I was told that I just needed to go directly to the imaging department).  OK no problem.  I went there, but I'm not really sure why.  They just looked at my paper and sent me back.  Weird.  But, that is how things work here!  The longest part of the whole thing was waiting.  My appointment was at 2:00, but I didn't see the doctor until about 3:00.  He told me what to expect: a stick with a needle and that's it.  No anesthetic was offered and I didn't ask.  He said it would be very quick.  And it was.  Although it wasn't just a needle stick.  He had to do it twice.  He couldn't get anything out from where he put the needle the first time so he had to try again.  It was painful.  Not the needle going in; it was the pressure and him digging around in my neck with a needle.  At one point he asked me if something was the matter and I didn't respond.  I didn't think I could.  I just shut my eyes and grit my teeth and stiffened up.  You know what you do when something hurts: you go all tense.  Well, that's what I did.  It didn't last long though, maybe 10 minutes at the most.  He showed me what he got out of it and it was some chunky yellow-reddish liquid substance.  Disgusting!!  He was able to drain all of it and the lump is totally gone!  Now I just have to wait for the results.  Hopefully I will get them sometime this week.

Still 97 degrees 15 minutes later than my last post!

Same Same, Yet Different

So, it's been 2 weeks since I've been at ENS and I guess it's time to fill you in on the new school.  The first week started out relatively slow and easy.  I began the week with 12 students and ended with 18.  Nice way to start other than the fact that we could never really get into a routine with structure.  It felt like I was starting over everyday due to the fact that new kids just kept coming in.  Other than that, it was great and I loved it!

The next week was totally different.  All 24 showed up.  Really starting over.  It was a tough week.  Kind of like my first year at Ammoryiah.  Things will get better.  I know that and I'm not as stressed about it as I was 2 years ago.  It just requires me to be someone that I'm not.  I am having to be strict and "mean" and that really isn't me.  It's not just Saeed's shirt either!  I have taken to letting that slide because he has many other bigger problems that need to be dealt with.  You know; pick your battles!  I will enforce it if another teacher tells him to do it, but in the classroom, whatever.  I'm more concerned about the fact that he doesn't sit still or stop talking and the fact that every time he walks by Saleh he hits his head.  See much bigger issues than a silly shirt!  Anyway, that's besides the point.  I'm supposed to be talking about how the fact that ENS is still the same, yet slightly different.

Differences:

1. Technology!  I love it and the kids love it!  They love using the Smartboard and when I find a video on You Tube.
2. BOYS!!  Maybe that's all I need to say here.  Boys are boys and Emirati boys are a special case
3. Duties.  I have to do playground duty.  No biggy.  It's only 20 minutes and really I just chat with the girls.  It's funny because I have a hard time figuring out if the boys are playing or fighting.  Boys being boys I guess:)  Oh I have to do cafeteria duty once a week and it's disgusting!!  They eat with their hands.  Everything.  Not just sandwiches.  Noodles and rice.  It's so gross.  Makes my stomach turn:(  At least it's only 20 minutes once a week!
4. Teaching time.  I have less total teaching time each week!!  There are two days when I only teach 4 out of 10 periods!  Most days it's 6, but I love the days that it's only 4.
5. Longer days.  Even though I have less teaching time than at Ammoryiah the days are much longer.  The school day for students is 7:30-2:45 except on Tuesday when they leave at 12:30.  Now that would be a good thing if that were my day, but sadly it is not.  I get there around 7:00 and leave between 3:00 and 4:30 depending on the day.  Tuesdays are my longest day as I have to work until 4:30 which means I don't get home until nearly 5:00. 
6. English level.  These kids are at least one year above my brightest students from Ammoryiah.  Most of them are about where Ashwaq (she was my highest) was at the end of the year.  That's a good thing!  I can do a lot more with them!  They are capable of understanding a lot more, their reading is better, and so is their writing.
7. It's inside!  OK I'll say it just one more time.  I love the fact that I don't have a layer of sand covering all the desks and papers!  It's great being able to stick stuff to the wall knowing that it won't get covered in sand and fall down!  I love not having dirty feet everyday!  It's not hot.  Although, my AC has stopped working for the time being:(
8. Assembly.  It's quiet!  No yelling!  It's amazingly different and SHORT!!  All they do is sing the national anthem and 2 kids recite the Quran; not the whole school.  No silly PE to Jingle Bells.  No constant shouting of some sort of Emirate thing after the national anthem.  Oh, I will say that I think they say the same thing that the girls SHOUTED at Ammoryiah, but they do it in English  (I wish I could have videotaped the assembly for you all to see, but it wasn't allowed).
9. Involved Principal.  Brian (the principal) has been in my classroom at least two times each week.  He even stopped them in the hall to help get them to walk in a line.  He's there at assembly and during dismissal.
10. Breaks.  The students have two 40 minute breaks instead of just one.  That's a good thing.  They need the time to run and get their energy out.  During the second break (lunch 1:15-2:00) they have to pray as well.  They have some sort of weird rotation where the boys eat, pray, then play while the girls pray, eat, then play.  It's mixed with the 3rd grade which makes it even more confusing.  So during the 2nd break they really only get about 15 minutes to play but it's better than nothing!
11. Clothing.  I can wear pants and short sleeves!
12. I only have 1 class instead of 2.  That's 24 students instead of 50.  That basically cuts my job in 1/2!!

I guess you could say it's like a school!

Similarities:

1. Meetings.  There are still a ton of them.
2. Talking.  The kids still love to talk.  That's a cultural thing though.  Well, maybe it's just a kid thing!!!
3. Ridiculously high expectations.  Yep still here.  They don't understand that these kids are learning a new language and that they don't use it at home or out on the playground. 
4. Not enough time to teach.  I know that sounds silly especially when I just said that I have less total teaching time.  But you really need more than 40 minutes a day to teach English and math.  It's just not enough time.  They have so many things that they have to do during the day that 40-45 minutes is all they can squeeze in for each subject.  Granted there are a few days when I can manage to get 2 periods of English or math, but it's not all that often.
5. Testing.  They have MAP testing, which should be sometime in October.  They do it 3 times a year.  Once at the beginning to get a baseline and then to see growth.  I think that's a good way to do it.
6. Lage class size.  I have 24 students.  That's just too many English language learners.
7. Small classroom.  Too small with too many students.  We're crowded.  The school is huge, but the classrooms are small.

That's about it.  If I think of more I'll let you know later.  Here's knowing that by God's grace this week will be better than last week:)

It's getting cooler:)  Only 97 degrees at 8:53pm!  It will soon be nice out; I can't wait:)

First Day of School

After a long weekend putting the final preparations on my classroom and getting ready the first day finally arrived.  You know, "ready or not here they come!"


Nice shot of the 4 student computers

Before I tell about the first day, here are a few pictures of my new "indoor" school and classroom.


Entrance to the Primary School




My SmartBoard



Indoor play area called the Quad/Pod

The building is super nice with lots of modern facilities including a swimming pool!  I just hope it's more than a nice campus.

 

Sunday September 2nd marked the beginning of the school year.  I got to school a bit past 7 and students were already there.  Typically the assembly starts at 7:30, but we won't be having an assembly until Wednesday.  So, at 7:30 the students were sent to their classroom.  We had a slight issue directing students to the proper classroom because the lists in the reception area were labelled wrong.  My classroom is 4D, but the list in reception had me and Gursharn (pronounced Gasharon; don't ask me how) flipped.  So her class, which is 4F was labelled 4D so all her students went to my classroom and vice versa.  One of the parents told me this, so I went out to reception to fix the mistake, but that didn't prevent the parents from bringing Ms. Gursharn's students to me.  Oh well.  We'll get it all figured out.

 

As of right now I have 22 students on my list and only 10 of them showed up.  I actually had 12 students, but 2 weren't on my list.  They are probably Gursharn's students.  The few students that I had were coming in, getting settled, and making name tags for their desk and locker while I was talking to parents.  The first thing Saeed's dad told me was that I would have to watch him "his behavior is bad."  Great. That's exactly what every teacher wants to hear on the first day.  I probably could have figured this out by myself, but with parental input that makes it a bit more real.  He was quite talkative today (probably the only one) and had a hard time sitting still.  But, he did do his work (the little that we did) and he did participate and he seems to be bright enough.  He likes praise and worked for that today so I'll have to keep that in mind.  While we were filling out the parent communication book I was pointing out who was ready and I didn't mention him, although he was ready, and he said "Saeed is ready too; good job."  He's really cute too so that will be a problem.  I did have a minor problem with him today.  After the first break, Peter - another teacher - told them that they had to tuck in their shirt or they couldn't go back to the classroom.  He told this to all the grade 4 boys.  So I went around making sure my 5 boys tucked their shirt in.  Saeed of course didn't.  I told him to and he didn't.  We got back to the classroom and I told him that he couldn't come in the class.  He sat outside (which I must mention again is actually inside) the classroom for a while and I got the rest of the 11 students started on something.  I went out to see if he was ready and I asked him if he could come in the class.  His response was "No."  I asked him why he couldn't come in and he told me "My shirt isn't tucked in."  Well tuck it in then!  He tucked it in and came in the class.  It didn't remain tucked for very long.  I have to tell you this isn't going to be a battle that I am going to fight, unless of course I really have to.  As long as he keeps his shirt on I could care less if it's tucked in or not!

 

I had a little mishap this morning after art before break.  I had agreed with the art teacher that I would take them to art and she would take them to the quad for break.  Great that meant that I wouldn't have to walk up 2 flights of stairs twice.  Khadija led the way to art and I left them there with the full assurance that Maggie would bring them to the quad for break.  After my 40 minute break I went to the quad to find my students.  All the other 4th grade classes were there, but my class was nowhere to be found.  Where were they?  Peter sent one of his students (the art teacher's daughter) to find them.  She came back and gave us the thumbs up.  We figured that meant they were on their way.  No such luck.  So I walked up the 2 flights of stairs to find them.  Only they weren't in the art room.  By this time the eating part of break was over and the rest of 4th grade was playing.  To my surprise it was actually all of 4th grade.  Where did my students come from?  Khadija came over to me and I asked her where they were and her response was "we know where to go, Miss."  OK.  They are obviously able to do this on their own!  Evidently they were in the cafeteria when all the other 4th grade classes were lined up outside.  I had no idea.  I guess I should have looked harder for them!  Other than that there were no real obstacles today. 

 

After the first break students began to leave and by the time I left for my doctor's appointment at 2:00 I was down to 9 students.  As I was getting ready to leave I saw Nawal (art teacher from Ammoryiah).  It was great to see her and we greeted with lots and lots of kisses!  She said that there were many new teachers at Ammoryiah and the returning teachers were asking about me.  I told her to tell them HI and that I wish I could come see them.  That will have to wait until I have a day off and they don't.  Probably won't be until the summer.  Bummer because I would love to see my former students.

 

My doctor's appointment was for this lump I noticed on the side of my neck and a mildly irritating constant sore throat.   It's like I've been sick since I got back.  Not good.  Dr. Shirley said not to worry about the sore throat; it's just slightly red and tender.  Yeah mildly irritating!  About the lump.  It's right near my thyroid so they are going to do some tests.  I have an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow night which will tell her if there's fluid in the lump or if it's cystic.  If there is fluid in there, which she thinks there is based on how it feels, then I will have some sort of procedure to drain some of it so they can analyze it.  In addition to the test on the lump they are going to look at my thyroid to see if it is functioning properly since thyroid problems run in the family.  They are also looking at my iron levels again.  There may be a few doctor's appointments for me in the near future.  I will keep you all updated.

 

Back for day 2 tomorrow.  Hoping Saeed tucks in his shirt tomorrow:)