Playground Saftey

So, living in the states is a bit different than living in Africa.  In Africa, you don't have to have constant supervision of kids . . . apparently.  Parents send kids off to play everywhere and they don't know where they are.  It is okay for them to play outside with no worries about being kidnapped.

For me, I am having a hard time adjusting to this.  I want to be able to see my students at all times!  Especially on the playground at school.  Already this week, we have had kids get feet stuck  and fall off of walls!  One little boy even cracked his skull, literally! (He had to be airlifted to South Africa!)

It is a scary thing for me, but I am trying to adjust.  I am always going to be out there watching my students though.  What would you do??  Do you think it is okay to watch kids unsupervised?

 Here are some of our playground pictures . . .

 Notice Rope that kids like to put heads 
through . . .

  

Cute African Jungle gym . . . but with hazards galore!

  

Now does that look safe to you??  And it is a bridge!!

Oh well, I think being an American I am just overly cautious!  I am very paranoid about safety and hazards.  I wonder how that will change as I am here . . .

Much Love and African Paranoia!

Miriam       

The start of a new year!

So our new school year is officially up and running!  This year I am all about doing interactive notebooks… a wonderful alternative to the lapbooking that I’ve always loved.  This technique uses foldables along with traditional notebooks to create fun, hands-on learning.  There are wonderful websites out there that have free printable lapbooks (with lesson plans) and free templates that you can use to fit your needs.  www.homeschoolshare.com is my favorite! 

We have done a combination of both so far for our school year.  For American History I created my own foldables and templates based on the what we are studying… currently Christopher Columbus.  We’ve been reading Pedro’s Journal by Pam Conrad as a wonderful historical fiction go-along.  So, for example, we made a cute ship’s journal foldable for our notebooks. 

In Reading I printed the adorable Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle lapbook and we have been simply putting the foldables in our notebooks rather than a traditional lapbooking folder.

And speaking of notebooks… I have been on a KICK creating adorable notebooks for the girls.  I used simple bound composition books and created individualized covers for them.  They are easier to keep up with, the pages don’t tear and there are no metal spirals to bend, and here’s a great tip: I love to wrap them in clear contact paper.  This keeps the printed covers I made protected and attached to the notebook, keeps the binding from pulling up, and protects them from spills.  You can find the clear contact paper at Walmart (or similar store) with the shelf paper.  The notebooks are also so personalized that they don’t get mixed up like the dozens of solid colored spirals that usually drift all over our house during the school year.

Hope everyone is off to a great start this year, and I look forward to sharing more of our learning adventures!

Here is the completed Christopher Columbus Unit with all of these foldables, lesson plans, and more!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christopher-Columbus-Thematic-Unit-915783

Love & Interactive Notebooks!

Angie

Pay no attention to the random dates on the pictures.  Looks like the camera needs to be reset!

Classroom Themes

So, themes . . . we have a love/hate relationship.  Since being a teacher (8 years), I have done 3 classroom themes (including this year).  I have done a Jungle, Robot, and now a Bug theme.  At times I love them, but at times I hate them!

In the states, I try to flee from the trendy.  Or, I try to buy the trendy when it is just coming out so it is not so popular yet!  This year, I went school supply shopping before moving to Africa.

While out, I didn't really see anything that I loved except a couple of small pacts of bugs.  (See below) And a few additions to the robot materials which I bought last year.

   

So, when I got to Africa I was planning on just doing the robot theme again, but the cuteness of the bug theme won me over.  I had to make a ton of stuff for the theme, but I think it came out.  I designed an alphabet, name tags, tags, birthday jars, bug names, a job chart, a behavior chart, and more! What do you think about how it came out??

Check out some of my bug themed materials in my teacherpayteachers store.  Just click the link below!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bug-Themed-Classroom-Pack-832351

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Schooling-By-Heart

Bugs in Africa!

Miriam  

Out of Letters in Africa. . .

So. . . I live in Africa.  No cute school supplies here.  No teacher stores.  No sticky tac even.  Everything we need or want has to be shipped or brought in from the states.  I brought in some supplies, but what I really lacked was bulletin board letters.  With no di-cut machine here, and nowhere to buy more letters, it is back to the old fashioned way.  So I got out my construction paper and scissors, and this is what I came up with.  I have a bug themed room, so I thought it worked well with my room. 

What do you think???

Love and Construction Paper Letter!

Miriam       

Classroom Overwhelm

One of my favorite things about a new school year is getting to organize and get everything ready for school.  This year, I came to my new school in Malawi three weeks before school started.  Now, that may seem like plenty of time for some, but when you are a crazy lunatic about classroom organization and themes . . . it isn’t that much time.

So, my first day in Africa I walked into a very nice sized classroom.  In the classroom, there were two ceiling to floor bulletin boards that took up half the wall and were painted red and orange.  Then, there was a blue wall, a yellow wall, and sea life painted over the other walls.  For some, they might like all of these paintings and colors, but I was OVERWHELMED!

All I knew was that I had to cover it up, but how??  I was considering painting them, but I knew that the Vice Principal had them up there, and that future teachers might like them.  So after looking around my room and looking through my three cupboards, I decided on fabric.  I bought teal blue and purple fabric.  I was not sure what I was going to do with them, but I knew that I had to cover up the walls.

Luckily, I had brought my staple gun from the states.  So, I went to work.  I started by stapling up fabric to cover up all the sea animals.  Then, I stapled fabric up to cover the bright bulletin boards.  I made my classroom a two tone classroom instead of the color overload that I started with.  I know that not all teachers can use a staple gun in their classrooms, but fabric helps so much!!

I am borrowing my pictures of my “before” classroom because I forgot to take any.  These are pics that a previous teacher took of my classroom.  

So now, you can see what I did to transform the classroom!!

Here are some Before Pictures:

The After Pictures will be posted on soon, so keep your eyes opened!

Love and Staple Guns!

Miriam