I feel like my life right now is totally revolving around work and school! Whew, it’s exhausting getting back into the work/school routine. I’m really, really enjoying it though! I’ve been at this teaching thing for several years now, so I need to work to keep things fresh and new! I never want to be the type of teacher that just pulls out a lesson of the file cabinet that she’s been using year after year…the kids’ excitement, curiosity and love of learning make my job both challenging and fun. One thing I’m doing to keep my practices fresh and new is using my SMART board much more this year. I try to use it for everything! It’s a whole world out there because I can create my own lessons plus there’s a teacher exchange where teachers from around the world can post lessons and we can all use each others ideas. The kids LOVE to manipulate it and it immediately ups the “coolness” of whatever content I’m teaching…you think place value in math is boring?? Think again when you use a SMART board to manipulate numbers. It’s actually really fun (well, if you are 7 years old, it is J) I’ve also been doing lots of hands on science experiments-our science unit right now is weather, so the kids built their own weather stations in order to record the weather each day (rain gauge, wind gauge and thermometers) They made wind wheels and had a blast experimenting with placement of the wheels, wind directions and running, skipping, jumping with them. Ahhhh to be a kid…

But of course, school/work isn’t the only thing going on! I’m enjoying my yoga classes again and running with friends and meeting new folks. I think I wrote about the weather last week…but the skies have been just gorgeous! Bright blue skies all day long. I’m taking advantage of all the outside time I can while it lasts…I also remember all too clearly the cold rainy days of winter in Quito. Summer can last as long as possible, as far as I’m concerned!

I hope you all are well!

Love, Rachel

Back to School and Forest Fires

Hi Blog Readers

Whew! First week of school-DONE! The kids are great, but as always, out of the school routines after being away from school for a few months. The first few weeks of school are all about getting to know each other, establishing routines, etc. I’ve got 13 students from all over the world! We have representation from the USA, Argentina, Italy, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia. Quite a little U.N. So school is going well…

In other news…

The weather here has been so dry! There are forest fires burning up in the mountains around Quito. You can see the towers of smoke, helicopters flying over to put out the fires. I don’t think they were intentionally set, I think it’s just that there has been zero rain for months and months and the earth is parched (as is my skin!!!-if there was ever a place for Lubriderm lotion marketing, Quito in August and September would be the place!)

Que mas…life is good, I’m enjoying teaching and hanging out with friends and going for some good runs.

Let me know what you’re up to!

Love, Rachelita (as my uncle Catfish has grown fond of calling me J)

Happy New School Year!

Happy New Year! (For teachers, September is a NEW YEAR) After a break…I’m back to weekly blogging. You guys hold me accountable, please! Sometimes I feel that the ordinary details of my life aren’t really very interesting…however, I know that these ordinary details aren’t so ordinary to you guys in the big US of A (hopefully you understand).

For example, I’ve written that I live in a fairly affluent part of Quito. I don’t have a problem with this, I love it! It’s safe and there are restaurants and clean streets, etc. However, because there is wealth, there are also beggars on the streets, a lot more lately! I hope it does NOT become ordinary for me to walk past them and not notice, although I’m afraid that it is becoming ordinary. I try and give leftover food to the beggars, so that nothing goes to waste, but obviously this is not going to lift them out of poverty…

Tomorrow is the first day of school! Even though I’ve been teaching now for several years, there is still so much anticipation, can I really do this again? Will they like me? What if I get a child who is totally uncontrollable? (That’s never happened…but) And then there’s the anxiety dreams. Last night I dreamt that my second grade class was made up of 15 year old lacrosse boys, you know the types, too cool for school… I had planned my 7 year old songs and games and stories. They were TOTALLY unimpressed with me!

I did meet a few students on Friday…they were all so sweet and cute and eager to meet their new teacher. The families were very nice as well. I’m sure it will be fine! It’s just the what ifs!

SO far, I’ve got 13 students which is a GREAT class size…I’ll write more about the class once I actually get to know them!

In other news…but dear aunt and uncle, Chris and Janaki have been here in Ecuador for several months, traveling and getting to know the country. Janaki returns home, but Chris will be here for a while, volunteering in a village near Otavalo. I’d like to visit him on weekends I have free…life at my school is NOT the real Ecuador, so I need to get back into the rural villages. J I might help with some medical translation too, we’ll see how that pans out.

The weather here has been beautiful! We are definitely into summer…bright blue skies, exquisite views of the volcanos.

Hope everyone is doing well! I love you, Rachel