Sulawesi

I recently travelled to Sulawesi with my friend Steph. Sulawesi is an island in Indonesia. It is east of Borneo and south of the Philippines. We started out in the north, near Manado and did 3 days of diving on Bunaken Island. It was amazing, with some many beautiful corals and sea life! We saw sharks, mandarine fish, sea turtles, giant clams, seahorses, frog fish, flounders, cuddle fish, baracuda, a sea snake, morey eels, lobster, and the list goes on! Then we spent one day near Manado and visited a meat market and a nature reserve with interesting monkeys (Makaws and Tarsiers). The next leg of the trip we flew to the south-west tip of the island (Makassar) and then drove north for 8 hours to Toraja. We spent 4 days exploring the culture in Toraja and then we headed south for one day to visit lake Tempe and the people living in floating houses. We loved Sulawesi, and all the interesting things we experienced there. Included are some of non-toraja shots since the next post focuses entirely on Toraja.

Another Day

Just another day
Same old things to do
The alarm goes off, the job is tough
Come on home again

Sometimes the mundane
Can drag you down
But every day
Is a chance to
Start again

It’s easy to get down
Feel sorry for yourself
Pout and grumble
Lock the world away

But take a look around
Turn that frown upside down
Stand up tall
Be optimistic

This is the day
To live
Take every moment
As a precious gift
To love, to laugh, to dance
To sing, to cry, to cherish
Everything

Happy
Find a happy song
Go on and sing along
Let the melodies
Take you away

Livin’ on the edge
Throw your cares away
Talk to someone new
Get an extra scoop
Celebrate the rain

After all, tomorrow’s not that far away
And before you know it,
It’s just another day

(This is a poem I wrote in the last weeks of work. I just fixed it up a bit today and thought I would post it, thinking maybe it will help someone through 'another day.')

The End…of year 2

The last comments have been written, the last grades entered, and in 5 days my 2nd year at SPH will be complete.

I still remember my uncertainty and apprehension about grade 6 back in July. It was not where I wanted to be, but throughout this year, I have seen unexpected blessings pop up all around: My fun teaching team, my awesome teaching partner, developing personal relationships with my students, challenging myself to get my head wrapped around the PYP, discovering that teaching English for another year has enabled me to discover my desire to write poems and songs. Although, I am happy to say that I will not be teaching English next year, I can say that I have enjoyed learning along with my students.

Next year will hold more new experiences. I will be returning to grade 7, which is familiar; however, I will be teaching science (which is new) and humanities (which is old), and I have been assigned as the year level leader. Even writing that down freaks me out. When I first heard talk of me becoming a leader in grade 7, I was angry and frustrated. I thought to myself “Can I not have ONE year where I do not do something new?” Every year is significantly different. Grade 7…Grade 6… Back to grade 7 as Year Level Leader. Well, I have come to terms with the change for next year. Don’t get me wrong, I am super pumped about science and humanities, and I have accepted being the leader, but I am still nervous about it. All I can say is that it will be another opportunity for God to be my strength and support!! I won’t be able to do it on my own that is for sure.

Exhibition

I am teaching in grade 6 this year, which is the final year of the Primary Years Program (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). In the final year of the PYP, students are required to take part in what is called Exhibition. It is the final unit of study in which students take leadership of their learning. The theme was ‘Sharing The Planet’, and the central idea that we teachers developed was ‘Actions and decisions have consequences that effect individuals, society and the environment.’

From there, the students came up with topics such as education, poverty, and pollution, and created their own central ideas, lines of inquiry, key concepts, and focus questions. Basically, they created their own unit of inquiry. They then spent about 3-4 weeks doing research, going on field trips, and interviewing people. Throughout the 6-week process they are also required to record the attitudes, skills, and profiles that they are using. This past week, 4 weeks into the Exhibition process, the students presented their learning in the Exhibition staging. The entire class learned a theme song in which they performed at the beginning of each session. Then, every student presented their findings in some way, such as videos, poetry or dancing. After the performances, students went to their individual booths where they had posters, lap tops, and displays set up to guide them in sharing a more in-depth description of their learning process. It was a complete success. I was so happy to see my kids explain their research findings with good understanding and excitement.

The next two weeks will be filled with the action plan and the final reflection. The action plan is basically their plan to take action after their research. Some students are raising money to aid local schools for street children. Some want to build a well. Others may write letters to people in government or teach young children proper hygiene. All of the action plans will take place in the Jakarta area, outside of school. The final reflection is basically a long document of questions that they have to answer after they have completed the Exhibition process. It is so exciting to see the students’ eyes opening to the problems and issues in the world around them. Many have plans to continue taking action even after the process officially ends.

What is exciting for me, is that even though the IBO is very humanistic in its teaching, as Christian educators, we are able to weave God’s plans and promises throughout the structure and expectations of the PYP, calling students to be active followers of Christ. God calls us to actively support those who are in need of food, water, education, work, and a clean environment. This is not an easy mission, but it is a challenge that calls us to look past ourselves and our own needs, and to the needs and issues in the world around us. This is the message we plant in the hearts of our students, hoping that they will rise to the challenge, and live impactful lives for God’s glory.

Sri Lanka- A Hidden Gem

It always amazes me how quickly I can go in and out of work mode. It is almost like there is a ‘work Michaela’ and a ‘vacation Michaela,’ the later apparently being more prone to one-liners and non-stop laughter. Boy, I love vacation mode! But, it is also great to get back to work and really cherish the last few months I have with my students.

I have decided to include highlights of my recent Spring/Easter vacation in Sri Lanka. I will say that Sri Lanka is a hidden Gem!! It is similar to India, but more developed, very clean, friendly people and tons to offer. I had a fabulous time there and I wish I had at least another week. I recommend it to anyone who is thinking of traveling in Asia!

• Watching 50 elephants of all sizes bathe in a river
• Learning about elephant poo paper and buying some
• Visiting Polonnaruwa, an ancient city and exploring the temples, baths, and other ruins there
• Climbing Lion Rock, a rock outcropping with ruins of an ancient palace and gardens, and fresco paintings. Amazing views and crazy climb up!
• Awesome food: curries, dhals, fish, eggplant…couldn’t get enough!
• Random animals: elephants, monitor lizards, turtles,
• Kandy: markets, cultural dancing and fire walking. Beautiful atmosphere in the mountains
• Steep mountain roads lined with tons of tea plantations
• Adams peak: 2am start for a sun-rise summit. The path was lit-up and there were tea shops every 50metres or so along the entire pathway. Seeing the mountains pyramid shaped shadow and ringing the bell as a part of successfully summiting was great. The descent was interesting because we were seeing everything for the first time in day-light.
• Tea factory visit and tea-tasting. Bought lots of fair-priced quality tea!
• Beautiful mountain town (forget name) with a lovely lake, horses all over and cute houses.
• Ella Gap: a beautiful valley leading us back toward the sea
• Yala National park. Didn’t see leopards, but thoroughly enjoyed our cozy hotel on a pristine lake.
• Mirissa: gorgeous, low-key beaches with turquoise water, palm trees and soft sand. Watched baby sea turtles being set free. Fire dancing and a full moon. Stilt fisher-men and us pretending to be the fisher men at sunset.
• Galle: Dutch fort, lovely colonial architecture and artwork!
• Colombo: Beautiful, clean and well-organized city. Bought last minute souvenirs and a huge painting. Set out to find Naan bread and confused the shop owner when we wanted it plain.
• Tea, biscuit and game time with the gang most nights.
• Perera, our driver from Lanka tours, was excellent and eventually figured out that we are just a bunch of crazy teachers!
• Many laughs with friends, 2 books finished, lots of time to sleep, a tan and I am re-charged to teach until the end!!

February Fun

Looking back at the month of February, I am amazed at how quickly it went. Thankfully there we tons of things to keep me busy and to keep things interesting.

Some of the highlights were:

-preparing for and presenting a drama about past civilizations at the Junior Schoool assembly (stressful, but rewarding)
-Celebrating my birthday with an 80's birthday party, costumes and all!
-My students throwing me a surprise party with a game of jeopardy, dressing me up, flowers, cake and gifts
-Book Character day and book week in the Junior school. I dressed as Madaline and my partner teacher was Alice
-Weekend trip to singapore which included the musical Wicked and competing in an aquathon (swimming and running)

Some of the stresses have been left behind, but March is going to be jam-packed too, with a visit to the Krakatua volcano, Exhibition preparation, and much more.

It never seems to slow down, but I am so thankful for all of the experiences I am having. Praise God for his many blessings!

New Zealand