A day in the life of a teacher...

A day in the life of an Al Ain teacher...

6:00 am the alarm goes off and I get up and ready. This includes throwing on an abaya or kandura over my growing belly, making my lunch for the day, and updating myself by reading everyone's facebook status. Shawn and I then head down to the parking garage below our flat and head towards another teacher's flat. On the way we listen to the 7:00 news on the classical radio station.

One kandura... I don't wear my slippers to work though! 

Up until last week we would pick up two other teachers, Samina and Larisa, and then Shawn would drive us to work. Last week, Samina rented a car and so Shawn just brought me over to the flat and Samina drove.

Larisa and Samina

Samina and I in our abayas

The drive to work is about 30-40 minutes. My school is actually in Remah, not Al Ain. We usually get there by 7:45. When we arrive, we have to punch a number into a keypad and have our finger scanned to clock-in. Series business! Then, depending on my schedule, I go get my room ready.

My schedule is different everyday and I teach both grade 2 and grade 3. The day runs on a seven period schedule. Here are the periods:

1: 8:15-9:00

2: 9:00-9:45

3: 9:45-10:30

Break 10:30-10:50. This is when the entire school is on break. All the girls (KG-Grade 12) run around the courtyard and eat, and teachers go to the lounge or sit in their classrooms. No one supervises.

4: 10:50-11:30

5: 11:30-12:10

6: 12:10-12:50

Break: 12:50-1:00 (Just like the other break)

7: 1:00-1:40

Girls getting food at the cantina

82 cents snack

School girls on break

Teachers then can leave at 2:00, except on days for PD (professional development), where we leave at 3.

Here is my weekly schedule: (3=Grade 3, 2=Grade 2, F=Free)

	Sunday	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs
Period 1	3	2	3	2	3
2	3	F	3	2	3
3	3	F	3	F	3
4	F	F	F	F	2
5	2	3	2	3	F
6	2	3	F	3	F
7	F	3	2	3	F

So... whichever class I am teaching first, I head to that room to get ready. This includes pulling my locking suitcase out of the corner and pulling my box down from the top shelf. I get out the supplies we need for the day, and put my behavior system on the board. It is then time to head out for morning assembly.

Every morning all the girls and teachers assemble in the courtyard outside for morning assembly. The girls line up 2 by 2 according to class in a horseshoe shape. First, we listen to a reading of the Quran. Then, three students march to the flagpole, wearing the UAE flag banner on their shoulders, and we listen to/sing the national anthem. While the students march, there are three students in the back that play the drums and accordion. After the anthem, a song plays that all the students dance to. There are also some points where the students bang the drums and students have to either raise their arms up, put them in front, or stand at attention. The principal may say a few words (everything is in Arabic) and then music plays as we walk our students in line to their classrooms.

The courtyard

"Hall"

With Grade 3 I teach literacy, math, and science in English. This usually involves: a morning welcome, review of rules, and handing out/checking homework and behavior charts. Then a mini-lesson. For the last two weeks they have been on short and long vowel sounds. Even though the girls are grade 3, their English reading skills are about a kindergarten/grade 1 level. This past week I worked on introducing literacy centers. These include working with dolch sight vocabulary words, writing skills, and listening/speaking.

The grade 3 girls' behavior is not terrible, but definitely need works. These kids are used to being raised by nannies and doing whatever they want at home. Learning to move around the classroom and doing their work without playing will take time, but they will get it.

In math we usually work with manipulatives. This week it was adding, subtracting, and even/odd numbers. We haven't started science yet, that will be next week.

Behavior system and rules

Grade 3 students at work

Grade 3 classroom

My board

When I finish with a class and have free periods, I pack up my suitcase and roll it down to the teachers lounge to work. I sit at a desk and eat, grade papers, and plan lessons. It is funny because the Arabic teachers do no work. They teach about 2 periods a day, and then sit in the teacher's lounge drinking coffee and gossiping (in Arabic of course). They don't have much of a work ethic, so when they see me working they are always interested in what I am doing and why.

Where I work

Teacher's lounge

My work space with suitcase

When it is time, I roll down to grade 2. I share grade 2, so I only teach them math (in English). We will also share science, but haven't started that yet. The grade 2 girls are much more wild then grade 3. Even though there are only 12 of them, they are a hand full! Their Arabic teacher is new and has no structure or discipline. Sometimes I think she doesn't even watch them, as the class is left in a nasty mess after school when she has them. They love to get up and run out the door, try to sneak and eat in class, play, shout, and more. We are slowly working on how to sit and raise our hands. They do well with a sticker system, and of course bribing them with candy and chocolate.

Grade 2 girls at work

Classroom after Arabic

Left in a mess

Classroom after I leave

When I finish grade 2, I once again pack up and either head back to the lounge or get ready to go home. Remember how I said we can leave at 2... well it is more like you do leave at 2. Five or ten minutes after 2, if we are still here, we are told we are “staying too late.” There goes that work ethic! We clock out with a finger scan and head home!

View across the street from school on ride home

I am usually home by 3 and have plenty of time to go to the pool, gym, or just relax. It is very nice!

So there are definitely pros and cons to working here.

The school is in the middle of nowhere. The kids have no structure or discipline and can usually do whatever they want. Even when I am teaching, other kids will come in my room for no reason. The Arabic teachers do not offer support. Most of them won't give us a key to the room. The resources are slim to none and the one copier just started working. We have no wireless and it is hard to access a computer, because I can't use the room on my break. Not having my own room is hard as well, especially planning and organizing supplies.

Yet, I work a lot less and don't have to go crazy with planning and lessons. I still work hard, but nothing over the top. I have a lot more free time at home. The perks are great with healthcare and housing and I get a good maternity leave. So, overall... not bad. You just have to remember all the pros when the kids are shouting “miss, miss” at you and acting like little monkeys! I am looking forward to vacation in about three weeks!

And that's my day!  

School Begins!!

The first day of school was a shock!

The week before school started for the kids, we had orientation in Al Ain. During the orientation, the new teachers were supposed to meet the HOF (English Head of Faculty) for their school and then the HOF would take them to school to meet the staff. When our turn comes, I meet two other new teachers I will be working with, but find out there is no HOF. So while everyone goes to see their school, we got sent home.

The nest day we all had another orientation in a new school's auditorium. Just as the orientation is beginning, our names are called. We walk over to the side of the stage and meet the cluster manager for our school. We left the orientation and he took us to the school.

When we arrive we learn a couple of things. The HOF from last year went home and hasn't been replaces, and the English cycle one (elementary teachers) also went home. There are two KG (Kindergarten) English teachers and two Cycle 3 (High school) English teachers. The school is a small rural school, from KG to Grade 12.

One of the KG EMT's (English medium teacher) takes us to meet the principal, who proceeds to ask us what grade we will be teaching. (Previously we had been told the principal would assign us to a grade). The three of us left and discussed which grades we wanted, and then returned to her office to let her know. I asked for grade 3, but because there are only three of us and 5 grades, I was given grade 3 and a share of grade 2. Saminia, from the UK, was given grade 1 and shares grade 2 with me, I do grade 2 and 3, and Larisa, from New York, was given grade 4 and 5. The principal then asked us for a schedule. We were very confused, because we though she would give us a schedule. We left and wrote something down, just an outline of how many hours we'd teach English, math and science a week. The pricipal approved and then told us to go see our rooms.

Our rooms were a shock as well. Very bare and the little bit of resources were spread out in a bunch of different rooms. We worked on getting our resources together and learned that we won't have our own rooms and will be sharing them with the Arabic teachers. Then around noon, all the teachers decided it was time to leave. Did I mention that it was Thursday (their Friday) and the kids were coming on Sunday (their Monday)? Yikes.

So school started on Sunday and I had no lesson plans, no classroom ready, no schedule, no class list.... yep. Very different from the USA. I basically spent the day inside the grade 3 room playing games, singing songs and coloring. At one point the Arabic teacher showed up so I could have a small break. She apologized for not being there earlier, as she went home to “feed her baby.” It was a long day! Yet, as the days went by... we started to get schedules and semi-class-lists.

It has been a month now and things are starting to feel “normal.” I will run you through a typical day in my next post!

Unrelated to school: We celebrated Shawn's b-day here. We went to a place called Wadi Adventure, and extreme water sports park, where he went surfing. Then we went to the mall where he did some indoor snow-less skiing. We finished up with diner at a nice restaurant. They bring you a stone grill and your meat and you cook it on the stone at your table. It was nice!

Wadi Surf Pool

Birthday dinner

       

Moving in... and Inshallah

In the beginning of September we moved to the Hilton in Al Ain... and said goodbye to our five star treatment. No more free water, or free internet! That was the hardest part, but we did begin really getting our flat together. Here is our experience:

The first thing we did was hire a cleaner to clean the whole place. She did a great job. One of our toilets was really bad though. It looked like the sewage backed up and sprayed out in the toilet. We told the cleaner not to worry about that, because the manager at the complex said they would clean it. After a few days of calling, I came home and Shawn had cleaned it anyway.

We went to the mall to get our internet set up and ordered a fridge and washer/dryer. The washer/dryer was delivered two days later... no fridge. They said it would come “tomorrow.” A week later they sent us the wrong one, it was smaller than what we ordered. We sent it back. We still have no fridge :(

The internet people came a few days after we ordered it and said a cord was broken. They came back a few days later... first at 9:30 and then at 10:30. We were excited. They said they would be back at 3. They didn't show. A week later Shawn went to the head office... and we finally have internet!

Our Ikea furniture was delivered a few days ago along with our mattress... we are still waiting for our couch. We are still waiting for the plumber to come fix two of our toilets as well.

So the moral... things here are different. You have to have a lot of patience. Things will get done, but yo never know when. There is a different way of thinking here. It is interesting, some things here are advanced. The banking system is very secure and the architecture is amazing. Yet, things like furniture take forever to get delivered and stuff get done “Inshallah.”

As soon as the place gets more together I will post pictures. We have lived here for a few days, so we are still unpacking. We really hope our fridge comes soon though, cause we are tired of eating out. Here is the baby's crib and our bed:

Let's step back...

A backtrack...

Things got crazy for awhile with moving into our flat and having no internet. So let me highlight some of the things that happened.

While in Abu Dhabi we went to the Grand Mosque. It was beautiful. It is called the Sheikh Zayed Mosque as it was commissioned by the late president and father of the UAE and is his resting place. It is also the largest mosque in the UAE and the 8^th largest in the world. We took a tour led by an Emirate and it was very interesting. Here are a few pics:

With our friends the Safars and Shon

Women must be covered for respect inside the mosque

Largest one piece of carpet in the world

We spent a day driving to Al Ain from Abu Dhabi to look at some furniture and check on our place. It was an interesting trip because we got lost. We had heard about a furniture store to check out so we tried to head that way. First we tried the GPS, but because nothing really has addresses here it is hard to find places on there. Then we tried asking people and calling places. Finally after 2 hours of driving we ended up at a mall. I was starving, so I decided to give up and eat. While at the mall we picked up a map, and there on the map 5 minutes away and clearly labeled was the store. In the end, the store was disappointing, but we learned to use and trust the map!

PS: They LOVE round abouts! 

I had orientation for two days at a beautiful brand new school in Abu Dhabi. The speakers had some good things to say about their vision for the future. They understand that the oil will run out, and want to create a society that is well educated and self-sufficient. They have a long way to go, but change doesn't happen overnight. We spent one day in a whole group orientation and another in breakout groups. We also had photos and fingerprints taken... series business! Anyhow... I felt as ready as I could. We also went to something called the Bedaya... which means beginning. All the teachers go to the convention center for a huge conference. It was all in Arabic, but we wore headsets so that it was translated. It was a big deal and was even broadcasted on the news, but a bit boring. They did feed us really well afterwards!

We finally got our housing allowance... so that meant an all day trip to Ikea. We originally thought we would buy most stuff used, but we were having trouble finding things at a reasonable price and getting it moved to our place. We decided to just buy stuff from Ikea, and spent literally spent the whole day there picking out furniture, linens, and other household items. We even had lunch there. So excited to see all our stuff in our new place.

Besides shopping, being a tourist, and meeting friends for dinner... we spent most of our time relaxing by the pool, at the beach, and sleeping :) Then it was time to move to Al Ain!!!