A Quiet Day

Today was my good day ... first period and last period and nothing in between. which allowed me to upload some of the grades onto the system.

I also gave Nelson my requirements for the final projects... I actually saw his little heart drop when he realized I need 250 Pewter ingots.. Its a lot of work to cut the pewter into bits small enough to smelt and pour.

I didnt have any water in the apartment this morning, so no shower and no coffee also meant that I couldn't flush the loo either. (This is NOT a good thing). I left for work and getting home at 4.30 I still had no water. at 6pm I wrote out what I wanted to ask the guard and had him write his reply.. its a lot easier to read spanish than listen to it being spoken, and of course I have access to the internet translation services to get some support.

It turned out he thought it should be back on at 6,15 it took till 6,20 but at least its back on and I FLUSHED THE LOO .. what a relief (In more ways than one) the hope is it stays on now, though I wont risk not showering tonight !! Just in case.

Today has also been so cold (esto esta mucho frio) the sun never got out and the clouds and rain on and off all day made things feel very chilly. I expect this is down to the altitude, when the sun shines its warm if it doesn't shine its really cold.

Amman sent through some pictures of the classrooms, they look bright, clean and airy and all going well tomorrow I will put a couple of pictures up on the blog.

If Technology Rooms looks anything similar then it will be a big plus as my intentions are to run as clean and clinical a system as possible.

I have my new breakdown I will be teaching 6 Design and Technology Lessons 2 each for Grades 7 8 and 9 (Double Periods) and 12 ICT Lessons single periods. My colleague will also pick up 12 Design and Technology Lessons for Grades 5 and 6. The ICT will be across all years. If this is the system that goes into place it will be almost my perfect choice for teaching, utilising my skills in both areas. There is however talk of also employing a local teacher for ICT so I might have a little flexibility.

My first thought this coming year will be to do away with PAPER and INK. I intend to have all folio work produced as Powerpoint presentations. (Which I will teach in ICT). It will save a fortune in consumable costs of ink and paper and mean I can take all the students work home to mark on a USB disc, rather than a suitcase full of paper. The only need for printed work will be for moderation and the only paper use will be for sketching Design Ideas.

I have so many ideas to try to make the most of what will be a state of the art 21st century classrooms and department, that sitting here is incredibly frustrating as I know I need to start working on the planning for the MYP lessons I intend to teach (Just as soon as I get an idea of the inventory).

Colombia has been a good year for me.. it has shown me where my planning here, hasn't worked the way it should and learning from mistakes is one of the best ways forward. Projects have still been good but I know they should have been better not from the kids point of view but from my own. Next year will be an even bigger challenge but the urge to get started is overpowering.

Now that I have said that tomorrow I am back to working with the kids on the photo frame project and it should be good to see how they develop. I can honestly say teaching is where I feel the most job satisfaction I have had.

manyana ....muchacho's