Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Second Period Fun

I had the funniest thing happen during second period today. First, I must describe second period. There are about ten kids, all ninth and tenth graders. They are currently working on abstract expressionist paintings. They each grab their painting and pallets and set up on their own little section of table around the room. Because of the nature of abstract expressionism, much of the painting is done by dribbling and even splattering paint. Some of it is done like finger painting. All of it is messy and everyone wears aprons. But I will get to that in a minute.

The kids in the class are from all different cultures and nations. We have equal guys and girls and a variety of social skills.

One of the boys, we will call him Krishana, has a very difficult time in social situations. He is from a strict culture and has had few interactions with students his own age. I could blame it on a variety of things but it mostly boils down to the fact that he is a teenage boy. He is the kind of kid who tries to one-up the next kid, jump into the punchline of every joke and add his input to all conversations to which he does not belong. However, the past two weeks have shown a gradual thaw in the attitudes toward Krishana.

Tommy, on the other hand, is a good-looking African male who is popular and talented.

So this morning, everyone in the class was busy working. Krishana and Tommy were working next to each other and good natured trash talking started. Tommy was painting with his fingers and both boys were critiquing each other's work. I began to raz Tommy, because he seemed to be more focused on threatening Krishana with his paint covered fingers than actually working.

As I was about to start reprimanding Tommy for a second time, he turns to Krishana and pokes him in his stomach. The whole room stopped. Everyone turned and watched as Krishana looked down to his pristine white apron with one solitary red dot in the middle.

Then, Krishana did something I did not expect. I turned to yell at Tommy when Krishana grabs his stomach, moans and slowly collapses to the floor, raising on hand grasping for life.

The entire class burst out laughing. "Tommy killed him!" I was laughing so hard I couldn't yell at Tommy. I love it when these kids evolve right in front of me.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!



I am thankful for my loving family, my education, faith and friends. You all are wonderful!

-Julia

Inflation is the devil

With the falling value of the US dollar and the massive inflation of food prices, I have been resorting to old university tricks to stay fed. Needless to say, these newest cartoons by Get Fuzzy have held a special spot in my heart.





Sunday, November 18, 2007

Work

The blog has been severely neglected. I blame the insane amount of work that I have to do. Who knew that 11 hour days could be so unproductive. On top of all that, my school is trying to transition to IB standards. Without a huge amount of detail, the basics of IB is an intensive 11-12 grade program that is supposed to challenge all students. Its like AP on steroids and all students are required to take the course, but not take the test. I think there will be a whole lot of failure, and that is the optimistic side of things. Currently, the administration is asking me to create and entire high school curriculum in accordance to this international program. Curriculum writing is a full-time job and unless they are willing to pay me a double salary, I am not going to be able to do it. They have also told us that a normal working day next year is 10 hours. That isnt including the meetings, clubs, and other responsibilities that take the weekends and evenings. You can see how morale at the job site is slipping a little.

Regardless, my students are producing some amazing artworks. The latest has been the color collage with magazines. This one is mine, its Halloween themed, because of my adoration of that particular holiday.










The rest are an assortment of student picked subject matter. Each student had to cut or tear out colors from magazines. The catch? Each piece had to be smaller than their thumbnail. Excruciating amount of time passed but in the end, I think it was worth it. Here are some examples of my 7 and 8 graders' final product.






























The advanced art class also finished their monster projects. I like them and they have a ton of character. The students seemed to like them as well.




I have fantastic students and I adore them! They make being in Africa worth it. Most feedback from parents is very positive and all the students seem to enjoy the class.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Marine's Birthday Ball




I was fortunate enough to attend the annual Lagos Marine's Birthday Ball last Saturday night. After getting all hookered up, two co-workers and I took a drive down four blocks to the Civic Center and entered that amazingly out-of-place building. The building itself is a rectangle with a huge spiked curve on the top which is always lighted. Its a very different look from the traditional square buildings of the rest of Victoria Island.

Regardless, we climbed out of the car and proceeded to the massive security check which included ID checks at the door, ID checks inside the door, metal detectors, metal wand detectors after that and a thorough search through my purse. Yes, I had a purse. Where else was I to keep the cell phone that I am continually reprimanded for not carrying on my person? Anyway, the ball was interesting. I had never before been to a non-church sponsored adult dance. It was particularly entertaining because of its open bar. More than one teacher was plastered that night.

The food was good, the pomp and circumstance was blissfully short and the dancing was continuously entertaining. Ever seen a 70 year old man freak dance a 25 year old woman? Ever seen your co-workers so drunk that their only dance move is the effort it takes to try and stand in one location? Yes, I was privy to these experiences and more. All in all, it was a fun evening and I was able to meet a ton of new people. Many consulate workers from the US were there as well as foreign diplomats. My table held all of the Brittish High Commission or some such thing. While those new friends are fun, its difficult to understand the accent after the fifth bottle of wine.

I did have some LDS friends there to make the evening fun. This is Jeff and I watching the teachers try to function on copious amounts of alcohol. The video is an embarrassing moment that I didnt realize was being video taped.