I am recruiting!

12:07 AM - 6.21.2007 - comments {0} - post comment

detallitos

Muy pronto estare en un ambiente nuevo.  Sweet!

Tengo bastantes cosas que hacer...voy paso a paso por todos lados, haciendo la diligencia con corazon lleno de anticipacion.

Alguien muy sabio me dijo: es hora de brillar.  Amen. 

12:48 PM - 6.17.2007 - comments {0} - post comment

asi de facil

Hoy tuvimos un asembleo para celebrar los exitos de los alumnos.  Yo por mi parte lo disfrute bastante.  Me gusta mucho estar en frente de todo el mundo con un microfono, y hablando de los tripulantes!  Dieciocho certificados de excelencia.

Ya no pienso que no pueden vivir sin mi.  El objeto de ensenar a un nino es hacerlo capaz de desempenarse sin la ayuda de la maestra.

9:12 PM - 6.12.2007 - comments {0} - post comment

new job

I have a new job.  It starts in August.  It is as a teaching principal in an new k-4 school.  That is all I can say for the moment.  A lot of details are being worked out.  I am very pleased with the opportunity....

And yes, it is in the Dominican Republic!

10:15 PM - 6.10.2007 - comments {1} - post comment

it's coming

5:40 PM - 6.3.2007 - comments {0} - post comment

photos from 2002

I have a new scanner, and have these slides to share!

11:35 AM - 10.28.2006 - comments {1} - post comment

trabajando en grupo (jordana y adan)

8:05 AM - 9.28.2006 - comments {0} - post comment

el vocabulario

In Spanish 1, we learn the bulk of our vocabulary in the first quarter and then spend the rest of the year putting it to use.  Adjectives rank high in a Spanish 1 class because they want to talk about themselves.  I like doing this particular project because:

1.  I put the kids in groups

2. I teach them how to work together

3.  They bring in the context

4.  It's culturally relevant to them.

The posters look a little sloppy, but the process is what counts; and the kids enjoy working together and making meaning out of these new words.

7:59 AM - 9.28.2006 - comments {0} - post comment

los tripulantes

Yet another school year begins.  Here is my classroom and one of my classes.  My Spanish 2 kids do a unit on Frida and Diego, hence their artwork.  Notice Picasso as well, and Lowell Herrero's delightful fat Agnes going to swim! 

Since my lessons are all contextual, we start with short stories, and the first is a fairy tale by Pilar Almoina de Carrera (Venezuelan).  A re-telling of Juan Cenizo, the dumb brother who ends up with the king's daughter, simply by being kind.  We started this lesson yesterday, scanning the text for "los personajes principales" of which there is only one, Juan Cenizo!  The rest are secondary.  We start the school year with this easy story, and work from there.  I think the story is boring since I have taught it for three years now.  However, the kids are delighted when they begin to understand the context, and even more so when I ask them to apply the moral to their own lives, and check back in on that, too!

It pays to PAY ATTENTION to students. 

I love teaching.

Enjoy this school year with me.  I will try to document as much as possible here.

besitos....Mainegirl in Maine (por el momento...)

9:24 AM - 9.6.2006 - comments {1} - post comment

que es lo que esta pasopa

My host brother Jesus used to say that line to me all the time.  What's goin' ON.

This summer I am taking a fascinating course on teaching methods.  It is forcing me to organize and plan my creative teaching exercises.  My first major project is the "Maria, Full of Grace" movie unit I do with my kids at school.  I want to do "Los Muchachos del Memphis" as well.  There is a lovely dominicana in class with me who is helping with some of the slang.

12:24 PM - 7.31.2006 - comments {2} - post comment

for carina

Here is my review of Las Mariposas!

It is a little bit off the beaten path.  But everybody in town knows where you are staying.

It is ten minutes from the beach by concho.

The beach has one bar.

The cottages are not air conditioned but have fans and nets.

Each one has a bathroom and little kitchen.

The grounds are beautiful and rustic.

Breakfast of fruit, toast and coffee is delicious!

The Italians that were there when we were there were very nice.

Enjoy my collage, too.

10:01 PM - 7.28.2006 - comments {1} - post comment

Las Mariposas

Las Mariposas son ocho cabañas de madera de la arquitectura típica dominicana ubicadas en el contexto urbano más antiguo del pueblo de Las Galeras. Cada Mariposa ha sido equipada con detalles particulares a fin de cada estadía resulte única e inolvidable.

(content taken from the guariquen.org website)

This is where Alison and I have decided we'd like to stay while in Las Galeras.

11:15 AM - 6.15.2006 - comments {2} - post comment

not so impressed

These are my summer books.  I started one two days ago.

It's terrible.  "Desesperada".

At best, a vapid, self-absorbed woman communicates with her equally vapid and self-absorbed friends (of which there are three, one of whom is ferociousally Catholic mother of five, the other a magazine editor, and the last..I never did get to know the last one.)  The primary method of introducing the characters was via scripts of their email conversations.

The main character is getting married, so that is the unifying thread--the other three women are in her wedding.  She has a terrible relationship with her mother, a woman who comes from a family that terrifies the lead.  All of the women have been divorced and insist her marriage to Ruben will end the same way.

The dialogue is unrealistic and unnatural.  The voice used is full of Spanglish--but you have to be familiar with the western United States in order to fully appreciate the translation.

The book was originally written in English and is too chiclitlight for my taste.  I love Neruda and dramatic poverty of the soul.

This book does no justice to women, Hispanic women in particular.  There is no cultural identity tracing back to a homeland, just a lot of shopping and complaining and generalizing.

I might finish this book if it is left in the outhouse over the summer.

We'll see.

Stay tuned.  My next choice is a natural favorite:  "Confieso que he vivido" por Pablo Neruda. 

10:02 PM - 6.11.2006 - comments {0} - post comment

la feria!

My students held a feria this year as their final project.  I collected pennies for pesos and I am STILL counting the pennies.  All proceeds go to DominicanKids.com, empowering Dominicans through dental health!

Here are some shots from the day!

5:09 PM - 6.9.2006 - comments {0} - post comment

miercoles

So, here's something I never thought would happen:

I am travelling with my daughter who is not my daughter.

Seems we need to go to the consulate in Boston. 

***

So far we've booked HB's B&B in Santiago and Tropix in Sosua.  Maybe Cabrera.

In Cabrera we'll likely visit Stephen and Felicita Hadley, dairy farmers and woodworkers.  His blog was hilarious but he stopped observing Dominican life after a fashion.  Maybe now he feels Dominican, heheheh.

***

ETA  Las Galeras information!

From Hillbilly:

El Marinique

From Chirimoya:

Guariquen

6:01 PM - 6.8.2006 - comments {0} - post comment

new flickr badge

The new badge is my summer reading list!

libros, bellos libros....

12:17 PM - 6.5.2006 - comments {0} - post comment

adios mayo

It's the last day of May!  This month has flown!  And in June, ten days in the DR!

I am closing out my Maine school year.  I must say that the end of term projects put on by the students are brilliant.  Music, dancing, crafts--they are really getting into Spanish.  I like the school community I am in now.  Next year I will even have Spanish 3 students.

My step-daughter-to-be is coming with me and she is so excited....

We're close to closing the house in town for the summer, too--and moving out to the island--so romantic!  No phone or tv, just woods and water.  Love it.

Dreaming in Spanish, yes, still.

8:23 PM - 5.31.2006 - comments {1} - post comment

here they are!

7:29 PM - 5.16.2006 - comments {1} - post comment

La Escuela

This year I am having the students put together a field day.  The theme is flags, and everyone in Spanish will participate.

Today to prepare for this event I put on some music.  Music!  We listened to the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Mana, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Reggaeton en la Calle 8 (compilation), Peru Negro (compilation), y....

I had the Marc Anthony case--but no disc.

We danced a bit--got up and moving--and in true scientific form had them record what they were thinking and feeling. 

Lately been daydreaming...tropical gardens, English and Spanish, lots of music.

I could teach in Puerto Plata.  Or start the banana school.  Or both.

Maine's season is so short, it is good to make plans.  Summer is just here, and the flowers stretch up every day!  In the DR it is a green explosion, I love it.

7:20 PM - 5.16.2006 - comments {0} - post comment

guess the author

4:43 PM - 5.10.2006 - comments {0} - post comment