First week of Professional Development

Hey all!

First, thanks to those who commented on my last blog! Feel free to hit the 'comment' button at the bottom of my posts and add your two cents :) I'm still trying to figure out how to respond to your comments ... oh, my roommate Patrick just said that I can just leave a comment too, so it can be like a dialog ... sounds good.

Let's see, lots has happened since my first entry. I have now officially been here for 3 WEEKS!! Wow, how time flies. Since the first post I have participated in 'new teacher orientation,' which really consisted of the veteran teachers pointing out cool places to get basic needs met in Hsinchu and Taipei. It was pretty helpful. Plus it gave the new teachers a time to bond :)

Starting Monday August 18th we began Professional Development. It consisted of meeting the veteran teachers, learning about the HIS (Hsinchu Int'l School) structure and our individual roles, and lots of philosophizing and reading! It was mentally draining, but invigorating at the same time. I feel like I walked into a great teaching / learning community that matches who I am (seeks to integrate different methods other than just traditional styles to really achieve deep understanding of the material and really life as a whole). There are going to be MANY challenges this year, some foreseen (for example, this is the FIRST year with a graduating class ... which means lots of pressure to make sure our students transition successfully to the next phase, thus building credibility for our school) and some that I am sure will just pop up.

I will be teaching Spanish 2, Spanish 3, ESL Language Arts 11/12 and CO-TEACHING ESL / Science 7. We are exploring new ESL models to better meet our student's needs. Basically just about 95% of the students are receiving instruction in a language other than their first language. English proficiency varies greatly. Also, most of the students hope to transition to universities / colleges in the US after graduation. We are going to try co-teaching this semester to see how it works for us. I'm excited to have admin and teacher support to try something new out!

I have really enjoyed getting to know the rest of the staff. Overall we're an intense group of people coming from really interesting backgrounds. The first couple of days we showed slide shows to present ourselves. I learned that Seth Laffin (Humanities / Language Arts teacher) has a family slogan for their family run car dealership: Stop cryin and start LAFFIN! This motto fits Seth perfectly, he's probably one of the most upbeat people I have met to date. I learned that Andrea Smith goes by the name Panda. In fact, when she was in High School they fought the admin to have Panda Smith be the name she used :) That sounds like the Panda I know! I'm really pumped too because I am going to be co-teaching Science 7 with Panda. She has two years experience co-teaching! Plus she's been one of the staff that I have gotten to really know and enjoy spending time with.

Let's see, I am now biking around Hsinchu!! I know how to get to and from school ... other than that ... not so much, but hey, it will come!! I am planning on getting a scooter at some time, but I'm holding off for a couple of reasons ... 1) $ and 2) because I know that when I get a scooter I will be tempted to use it all the time instead of getting exercise biking.

Oh, if you have skype (which everyone should open a free account) please add me as a contact: emarose6. I am using skype to keep in contact with everyone. It is free when you make calls from computer to computer. Plus it's cool because if you get a camera than we can see each other when we talk! Yesterday I got to skype with my baby brother Connor. It was really cool because my family had just re-arranged the whole house and he took his computer around with the camera and gave me a tour!!! I also got to give him a tour of my place in Taiwan ... since we're on the 9th floor of a 19th floor building he got a pretty cool view of the city from my balcony!!! So please, let's skype so I can show YOU around Hsinchu, Taiwan!!! :)

That's all for now!! Love and miss you all!

Alissa