Classroom Tour

Time for a classroom tour! I am teaching at a new campus this year; it's quite different from the cozy little upstairs classroom at the junior school, but I do love it. This is where I get to teach 5th through 8th grade students everything from Greek mythology to autobiographical writing to how to type a capital letter. Please come on in. Welcome to English class!

Our biggest class here at the Acacia Senior School is the sixth grade, with 18 students. That really is a nice small number, but they fill this room well. I have 12, soon to be 14, students in my fifth grade class, and I am their homeroom teacher. Our seventh and eighth grade classes are combined, with 10 students total. 

Unfortunately we don't yet have enough lockers to accommodate our poor, deprived fifth graders, so I have this cubby-type space for them in my room. In reality it's not much more than a sweater shelf, but I'm slowly taking it over with my books. For me books behave similarly to cat hair. They spread out everywhere, turn up where you least expect, and you can never quite get rid of them once they've established themselves somewhere. The key difference is that I like books.

In decorating my classroom, I discovered that I must be a van Gogh fan. I've also introduced a "Did you know?" poster for interesting trivia, which shouldn't surprise you if you know me at all. We've had some good ones from students so far. Da Vinci writing backwards, hurricanes weighing the same as 160 million rhinos, a strange lizard creature in New Zealand having a third eye. Good stuff. 

This is my little corner. I've got a great desk, roughly the size of a barge; however, by the end of the day it still manages to be completely buried. This desk also has the best view of any desk I've had in my life. 

The back corner of the classroom has the door to our veranda, and the all important encouragement from good old Rosie the Riveter. I quite intentionally hung her poster right were I could see it when I am elbow deep in spelling tests on Friday evening. 

Here's the view. There's a veranda off my classroom that looks out on the hills of Kampala. 

These pictures are taken on a grey and stormy day, even, so you can imagine how distracting the view can be at times. 

This is our dual action display board, explaining both the important characters from Anne Frank's autobiography and a simplified (kid appropriate) version of the Greek god family tree. I've never done so much laminating in my life. 

Well, there you have it. That's my space this year. Thanks for coming by to visit my classroom!

My Summer Vacation in Seven Photographs

The time has finally come. Por fin. I will break my four months of internet silence and rejoin the land of the blogging. After such a long time, I was completely out of the groove and at a loss for what to write about. Yes, a lot has happened, but nothing nearly as significant as bungee jumping or anything. But then I realized pictures are the best part of blogs anyway, so why don't I start there. So here you go...

I got to be a part of this lovely wedding with these wonderful people.
(Photo credit to Amy Anderson, thanks!)

Claire had a great big graduation barbecue bash. A grand old time had by all.

Claire and I did some SERIOUS yard work. Yes, that's a
weed eater, but what you probably can't tell from the picture
is that it has a circular saw blade in place of the strings.
That's how we roll.

We did a lot of kayaking. Rivers...lakes...water in general is a beautiful thing. I couldn't get enough.

Claire got this adorable puppy.

Cousin day at the beach. It was a beautiful day at the enchanting Oregon coast.
It had been far too long since the beach and I were reacquainted. 

I also went to many a farmer's market, and had the hardest
time keeping my hands off those gorgeous globs of sunshine
we call sunflowers.

So, there you have it. Snapshots of my summer. Oregon is a beautiful place to be in the summer months; I could have easily given you seven photographs of spectacular sunsets, but the camera doesn't quite do them justice. Of course, many other things happened over the summer. Fireworks, Korean food, ice cream outings, hikes, sushi, parties, and the list goes on. I had a wonderful time resting and adventuring with wonderful friends and my lovely family.

Bonus Photo!
Representative of the
general silliness that
went down this summer.