Happy Valentine's Day!

I think Valentine's ranks up there with my favorite holidays. And considering I've not had a Valentine more frequently than I have, I guess that's saying something. :) I just love the opportunity to remind people of how special they are to me. I'm a firm believer in showing it all year round, but let's be honest, that would be expensive. Haha. This year's Valentine's Day was spectacular.

Now, I was a little concerned, because it's not a huge thing here. When I sent the letter home to parents regarding our party, I made sure to tell them not to stress about it because I had a feeling Valentine's might be difficult to find here. When I finally got out to the store on February 13th, that feeling was confirmed. :) Out of three stores I visited, this was the largest Valentine's Day display that I saw....

ALMOST as many options as at Walmart, right?! ;)

Needless to say, we had a lot of homemade cards and creativity for treats! However, the day was still superb. Before school even started, I was given a cupcake from some of the high school students. Then, my students came in all adorable as ever and super stoked for the 'holiday'. We read a cheesy Valentine's Day book for reading, did Valentine's themed activities for literacy work, and made our "Valentine Mailboxes". While making the mailboxes, I was complimenting one student on how proud I was because he was taking his time and putting in so much effort (not his usual when it comes to art projects). He smiled and said, "I know. Did you know that today is the first time I ever even cared about or liked Valentine's Day?" Aww. That made me smile. :)

They all got very creative and crafty! I was impressed!

At snack time, my co-teacher handed out homemade chocolate chip cookies. When I got back to my classroom, I found a dozen beautifully wrapped roses on my desk! A COMPLETELY unexpected surprise from my momma! This alone was enough to keep me smiling for the rest of the day, but of course it just kept being amazing. 

It may have taken me approximately 10 minutes to finally get all the wrapping off.

Around this same time, my sister received a bouquet that I had ordered for her and had nothing but the sweetest things to say. Of course, this made my heart extremely happy, too. :) During chapel, we had a good lesson on God's love and what that really means and should look like in our lives. We followed this up with a brief history on how Valentine's Day actually started (which apparently is all just legend?) and then went downstairs to have  our little celebration. The kids had been looking forward to the party all day (I swear it's like they smell the sugar in the room and get instantly hyper!) and when we got to the cafeteria before the other classes a few of them turned to me and said, "Where's the party?" Haha.
I replied, "We are the party." But they didn't like that much and could hardly contain themselves while they waited for the other kids to arrive. While they waited, they handed out their valentines and candy. It went a LOT more quickly having only 5 students than it did last year with 26! But they still ended up with way more than enough sugar and extremely happy. When the other class showed up, we enjoyed cookies, brownies, strawberry soda and chips.

Carolina and Naomi. So much cuteness.

Josiah and Elissa. Up to no good, of course. ;)

Naomi and Andar. Such sweethearts.

It's chowtime.

Within approximately 4 minutes, everyone had finished eating and I thought the room was going to explode with energy, so we took them outside to play "Steal My Heart".... the Valentine's version of Steal the Bacon. :)

I tricked them into thinking I was going to call a number when all I actually planned to do was snap this picture. Suckers.

So, yeah. All that to say, the day was exceptional. Full of love, happiness, and wonderful reminders of how blessed I am. After school, I worked with a 4-year-old girl to help her learn English. She's adorable, so just more sweetness.

 

When I finally got home at 6:00, I called up Papa John and asked him to be my Valentine. He was prompt, hott, non-judgmental and always just a phone call away. Quite a perfect date, if you ask me.

I hope each and every one of you had a Valentine's Day just as special as mine. It's a terrific special occasion and I hope if you're one of the "Singles Awareness Day" celebrators that your

I asked a co-worker if wearing heart earrings and necklace for V-Day was the same as wearing snowflake or pumpkin earrings on other holidays. She assured me that yes, I had officially become "that teacher". I am perfectly fine with that. :)

One other highlight from my day is that we took a class picture and it actually turned out reallllly well! (Minus the fact that it's missing one student! Haha). What a bunch of cuties I've been blessed with!

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping in Malaysia has been one of the most trying experiences for me thus far. It's exhausting.

First, you have to find the items you're looking for. For the most part, it's decently arranged and the more I go, the easier it is to find things. I still don't understand why there are 4 different sections of refrigerated juices... and a whole aisle of non-refrigerated juices four aisles away. And other such questions. :)

Then, you have to find replacements for items you're looking for that can't be found or are super expensive in Malaysia. I've only found cottage cheese at one store. It's expensive and it doesn't taste good. I wanted to use it in quiche the other day, but had to substitute in yogurt instead. You can't buy frozen spinach, so I have to use regular spinach. The brown sugar is red.. should I still buy it?

While I grocery shop, I also am constantly doing all sorts of math in my head (or sometimes on my phone's calculator... haha). Divide the price by 3 to get the US $ equivalent. Compare to what I remember the prices being in the States. Is it WORTH $6 for a box of pop-tarts? No, probably not. Should I buy them anyways? No, probably not. Will anyone reading this send me a box of pop-tarts in a care package? No, probably not. :)


Did I also mention that if I go grocery shopping on Sundays, it's like an episode of Hunger Games: Adult Version? There are people everywhere, elbows flying to be the first in line at the vegetable weigh station, cart racing, line cutting (with or without machetes... to be determined), and pretty much just all out chaos!

Another thing that makes grocery shopping so exhausting and dreadful? White Fungus. Quail eggs. Fatt Choy. Corn-Flavored Ice Cream. That is correct. Those are real items I have seen at the grocery store while shopping. It's almost as if I live in Asia where they have really weird tastes or something?! See for yourself. Others, not pictured include, chicken feet, fishballs, and numerous items that I don't recognize or care to identify!

So, I make it to the check-out and this part has become less exhausting and more funny. Although, still ridiculous. As I'm checking out, if there's an item with no tag or veggies that I forgot to weigh, the cashier looks at me and says, "No price. Do you want?" In my first few months, I semi-freaked out each time and said firmly, "Yes, I want it. I'll go find a price. Now, let me ask you a question, WHY WOULD IT BE IN MY CART IF I DIDN'T WANT IT?!"  After living here 6 months, though, now my response is a smile and "No". Notice to all who are reading this: Do not grow attached to anything at a store in Malaysia until after you have checked out. Chances are as good as not that you will leave without it. :)

Finally, the MOST exhausting part of grocery shopping in Malaysia is going home. I don't have a car here. There is a service road blocked off by a barrier that separates me from the street with taxis. I may not have always been considered the strongest girl around, but let me tell you, I've learned how to carry some groceries! There has been more than once where I physically lost feeling in my fingers because the plastic bag handles were cutting off my circulation, but it comes back. :) So, yeah, carry them to the taxi, put them down while I negotiate a price, pick them back up and put them in the taxi (or carry them to the next taxi), ride home, carry them up the elevator and across the apartment complex until they finally find my kitchen. I sure do miss my garage that backed up to the kitchen on grocery shopping days!

Thankfully, I love to cook and love eating even more, so even a weekly grocery-shopping adventure is not enough to keep me away! And, the longer I'm here, the easier it gets. Maybe by the time I leave in a year and a half I'll actually like corn ice cream and fishballs. Or maybe not.

Past, Present, and Future: Addendum

Last week, I posted about how my students were learning past, present, and future. It's still a little difficult for some of the to differentiate, but given that they're only 5 years old, I think they have time to figure it out. Like when "last week" doesn't feel the same as a year ago in your short little existence.

As a culminating activity/assessment, I had them do a "Show Me" Quiz. Each kid had a little handmade booklet with 3 index cards inside. One card said Past, one said Present, one said Future. I put up a slide show with an assortment of pictures and for each one, they had to choose the correct card, put it in their 'Show Me Wallet' and hold it up once everyone was ready. It's a quick way to do a group assessment and easier to administer and grade than a paper and pencil test!

The part that really struck me as strange, though, was when I showed the kids a couple of pictures I had found of "the future". It was so weird, because as they were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over them, I mentioned that they'll very likely see these things in their lifetimes. Their first cars might be flying cars. Their first computer might be like the one shown here. It's crazy to think about. But, then, it's just as crazy for them to imagine their 26-year-old teacher not getting her first cell phone until high school, not using the internet until middle school, and not knowing how to use her iPad as well as they do! :)

Crazy.

These guys never turn out well in movies. I think we should delay work on them. :)

Homemade Applesauce: Take 1

While writing my weekly menu (that's right, I do that. Be jealous!), I found a recipe for breakfast muffins that sounded delish! I've yet to check for Oat Bran, but you can get everything else here, so I was super stoked about making these. Of course, I won't be making muffins, but a "cake" because all I have to cook with is my teeny little toaster oven that can't fit a muffin tin. When I saw that the recipe used applesauce instead of apples, I remembered my mom had told me making homemade applesauce was super easy. Since it's about $2 US per little snack-pack size here, I figured homemade was worth a shot! I googled an easy recipe and stopped at the store on the way home from church and got the ingredients I still needed... apples and Brandy. :)

Butter, apple juice, apples, honey, cinnamon, Brandy... total cost: $5 US. (Don't mind our messy counter!)

The recipe said just stick everything in a microwaveable container in the microwave and cook for 10 minutes. I did this. Took it out, the lid of my 'microwaveable container' was half-melted, but the apples were still crispy. So, I threw it all in a pot on the stove and boiled it for 10 more minutes. I don't have a hand-mixer here, so after what felt like forever using the potato masher, I finally had my applesauce! I took a bite while it was warm. It's scrumptious. Never going back to packaged! (At least until I move to America where it's just as cheap and a whole lot easier!)

It's still a little clumpy, but it's as good as I can get with this utensil! Hopefully it'll just add some flavor to my muffins!

Past, Present, & Future

A few days ago, I blogged about how there were some things that I never realized needed to be explicitly taught, things I just assumed everyone knew. This week's Social Studies is another prime example. We're spending an entire week defining and exploring the terms Past, Present, and Future.

It's hard to remember that a) my students only have 7-years (max) under their belts, so the "past" doesn't mean a whole lot to them and b) floppy disks were SO long ago, I can't even begin to explain what a telegraph or beeper were! Haha.

To introduce the unit, I pulled up a picture from my past, present and (hopefully) future. I think it helped them understand the terms a little better. They have a project to do the same (bring in an object or picture from their past, present, and future), so I'm excited to see what they come up with.

Here's what I showed them:

PAST. (L to R: Tim, Molly, Steph, Stacy)... Not sure why I thought I needed to pick Molly up for this one. She's almost as big as me!

PRESENT. (L to R: Tim, Steph, Stacy, Molly.) At my cousin's wedding in Dec 2012

FUTURE. (Which is why I said hopefully! Haha!)

 I'll admit, it took a little explaining and reiterating that that was NOT ACTUALLY ME wearing the wedding dress, it just symbolized that I wanted to get married in my future. I think they finally got it.

Tomorrow we're talking about changes in transportation. This oughta be fun!

SunBear News

Our school has 22 students. It's not hard to pass around information and news, so we have no real need for morning announcements. In an attempt to build school unity and give the older students a creative outlet, though, the middle/high school students have produced a weekly Newscast for us every Friday. They're always semi-goofy, semi-informational, and all around fantastic. My kids LOVE going to the high school room every Friday to see what hilarious things will be in the morning show.

However, as the semester draws to a close, the older students are busy finishing up classwork and other responsibilities, and have decided to take a break from the Newscast for a few weeks. So as to prevent any heartbroken 1st graders, I said we'd take a shot at it. We teamed up with the 3rd and 4th graders to produce our very first SunBear News.

Here it is! Enjoy!

(P.S. The new student is in my room (bringing me to a whopping 5!) and he really is as hilarious, energetic, and adorable as he appears. More stories to come from him for certain!)

Sour Milk Ice Cream?

Having taught 4th grade the past three years, sometimes I look at my new curriculum and say, "I really have to teach THAT?" Not because it's something I don't want to or is bad to teach, but because it's something you'd never think someone couldn't know. Haha. How do you not know how to read the words 'a' and 'I'? They're letter words. Also, how do you not know what money is? Teaching Kindergarten has given me a whole new appreciation for parents and other Kindergarten teachers. You wouldn't even believe the list of things that actually need to be taught.

Another example is solids, liquids, and gases. I understand that those are semi-big words, but explaining the definitions and concepts behind each was a lot harder than I was expecting. I thought I'd introduce it and the kids would just throw the vocab on substances they already knew very easily. I was wrong. It took about 3 days before they finally seemed to grasp the fact that liquids were liquidy and solids held their shape. (Even this is not a good definition because they keep finding exceptions like toothpaste and play-doh!) To try and provide real-life examples of the states of matter, I found an 'experiment' online for making ice cream in a bag. It looked awesome, had all the components of what needed to be taught and I could find all the ingredients in Malaysia.

Wednesday arrived. I got my kids pumped for our 'experiment' and even more excited for ice cream. And then, Malaysia happened.
Problem #1: I forgot vanilla. (Ok, so that was my fault, not Malaysia's, but still...)
Problem #2: Boxed milk. It doesn't taste like milk... probably because it's some processed nastiness that can sit in a box on a shelf for months on end. But, that's what we had to work with. Also, I bought low-fat, which a teacher later told me was dumb because we were making ICE CREAM.
Problem #3: Zip-loc bags. You can buy them here, but the selection is very limited and they're way over-priced. Ideally, for the experiment, you have a quart-sized heavy duty freezer bag and a sandwich sized regular bag. We just had two regular sandwich bags per kid. The ice kept puncturing them and water started flying all over the place.
Problem #4: I live on the equator. It's supposed to take 5 minutes to shake the milk into ice cream. My kids hands got frost-bite and we still ended up with a 'milk shake' texture at best. So much for the term 'solid'.

My first student to finish was too afraid to try it (Really? You had just watched me pour milk and sugar into a bag? What could POSSIBLY be scary about it?), so he gave it to a 3rd grader who happened to be observing our craziness. The brave soul took one sip (yes, it was still very liquidy) and got a disgusted look on his face. When asked to describe it he said, "It tastes like salty sour milk." Excellent.

One of my kids said he was never going to eat ice cream again. Doubtful. Another kid said, "Why would you make us do this awful experiment?"
To which I replied, "I made it in America and it tasted really yummy!"
She said, "Well, then can't we make the American version?" Sorry, dear. I wish we could. I wish we could.

We went upstairs to take a quiz after the excitement of the afternoon and they almost all aced it, so it must have been at least a somewhat productive experiment!

Their facial expressions are priceless. :)