Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Dinner:

Getting started

Turkey on a stick

Cooking

mmmm....looking good

ready to eat

It was really good!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Graduation

The first student with special needs has graduated from Green Hills Academy! She is now working at an assistant teacher assistant with me and doing great!

Her class was the last class that was on the National calendar of having a school year from January to December. The rest of the school is on the North American calendar and go from August to June.

Students got a chance to show what they learned about the Rwandan culture by dancing the traditional dance.

Then they got parents, teachers, and graduates all dancing!

What a great celebration!

Rain

Rain or Shine School must go on!

When it rains hard:

- you can not hear the teacher so you do silent work

- you have to walk under the overhang so walking to art and lunch takes much longer

- you can not go to PE so you play Heads Up 7 Up

It usually only rains for about a half hour at a time.

Even though schedules are changed when it rains, we love it!

International Day of Prayer

There was a tribe in northeast India called headhunters because the custom was to collect as many heads as possible.

A group of workers went into the tribe to share the love and peace of Jesus Christ. One family came to know and love Jesus. This family started to share God’s love with others in the tribe but the chief did not like that.

The chief lined up the family and asked the father ‘Will you deny your faith?’ The father remembered a song he wrote and sang the first verse:

I have decided to follow Jesus,

I have decided to follow Jesus (3 times)

No turning back, No turning back

The chief killed both of his kids and again asked, ‘Will you deny your faith?’ The father began to sing the second verse:

Though none go with me, Still I will follow (3 times)

No turning back, No turning back

The chief killed his wife and asked, ‘Will you deny your faith?’ The father sang the last verse:

The world behind me, The cross before me (3 times)

No turning back, No turning back

The chief then killed the father.

A miracle happened that day. The chief could not understand this supernatural power behind the family that they would die for. He started to want what they had; he began to declare that he believed in Jesus. That day many of the people in the tribe came to know Christ as their Savior.

That is the power of Jesus Christ!

300 people are killed every day for their faith in Jesus Christ.

People are willing to die for faith…Can you imagine the faith they have?!?

Pray for these people: let them know they are not alone in this, that they will be bold and courageous, that they know they are making a difference

White Girl and Guinea Pig

Bella and I go pretty much everywhere together now that she has a cool new carrier. We have become famous around town; school, the bank, the grocery store, the restaurant up the street...

They call us 'the Muzungu (white person) who rides motos with that guinea pig'. It is pretty catchy; don't you think? :)
She may be little but she is so much fun!

My Desk

I am planning lessons for a few of my students.It might be messy but it is an organized mess!

Trip to the USA

I took a short trip back to the US for a few reasons:

1) Lauren and Bruce got Married

2) Mallory's Birthday

3) Emily's Fashion Show

4) My Mom and Tracy Moved (to the country)

5) A Real, Live, True Mom Hug
A grand total of 80 hours travel time but it was totally worth it!!

Moto Ride

A moto taxi ride.

Thought you might like to see what it looks like.

Hano?!?

Lesson of the day:

If you say 'Hano' (here) it means in this general area but... if you say 'Hano, Hano' that means right here.

If you say 'Ngwino' (come) it means come when you can but... if you say 'Ngwino, Ngwino' that means come right now.

This can get a little confusing when I want the moto taxi to stop but I'm getting the hang of it.

CAS

Every high school student at Green Hills is required to do a certain amount of volunteer hours. A few of the students wanted to help my students and I out. They come a couple times a week to my office and make different teaching aids for my students.

In this picture they making a matching activity and a color game. They are hard workers and have helped a lot!

Standardized Test

The students at Green Hills is taking their first standardized test. With this test we will be creating norms for the school to see where the students are. We will also be able to find the lowest functioning students so we can meet their needs more efficiently.

I gave a workshop on how to do all the individual standardized test. We have to do individual testing for all of kindergarden and first grade; that is a little over 200 students.

Class Pet

I got a guinea pig!!

My students love her! One student walked in saying, 'I'm so excited!'

They helped me get the room and the cage ready for her to stay in our classroom. They even named her, Bella. It means beautiful.

This is one of my students helping me put Bella in her new cage. He actually touched her!

This is one of my students feeding Bella.
Bella will help my students learn responsibility, small motor skills, awareness of surroundings, respect, taking care of a living thing, noise level, patients, cleaning skills, being gentile, how to play, working through emotions (fear, discomfort, excitement); Bella has a big job.

First class pet at Green Hills and I would even venture to say first class pet in Rwanda!

Rainbow

Rwanda has the most beautiful rainbows.

It's God's smiling down at us. It is His promise that He will take care of you.

I love rainbows.

First Alarm

It does not matter where you go, kids will always be kids. They are excitable, energetic, curious, and goofy.

In every bunch of kids you always have the teachers pet, the over achiever, the class clown, the quiet one, the one that will not stop talking and you cannot forget the trouble maker...

Today, one of students decided it was a good idea to pull the first alarm. There was no fire but I guess he felt like it was a great time for a fire drill.

It does not change not matter where you are in the world, there is a trouble maker in every group. But you know, I love them all.

Special Education

Special Education at its finest....

Individualized Curriculum

Meaningful and Interactive Lessons

Using the Student's Strengths

Building on Prior Knowledge

Keeping to a Routine

Picture Schedules

Fun and Interesting

Creating a desire to learn!

That's the way my classroom runs.

Rainy Season

It is now rainy season.

It could be a hot beautiful sunny morning, without a cloud in the sky, but by the time I get to school it could be raining and freezing cold. It does not rain for long but it might rain a few times during the day and when it does it gets very chilly.

During rainy season it is wise to carry a sweater and a rain coat with you at all times because you just never know when it will rain.

...I may or may not have learned this the hard way :)

Soccer??

I was talking with the new PE teacher of the primary school at Green Hills today. I was asking him how things were going and if he enjoyed teaching. I asked him if the students were playing soccer in PE and I told him that I over heard the kids wanting to start a soccer team.

I realized he was looking at me like I was crazy.... then I remembered I live in Africa and soccer is really called football :)

After I told him I was really talking about football, we both chucked a little at the fact that this conversation was so confusing but, we worked it out and maybe Green Hills will start a football team this year.

Time Table

I walked in to my classroom today and I could not believe it...

All the students were in the right area, the aids were teaching the correct lesson, the timer was running, the students were engaged, the room was decorated, and they all knew what to do next!

Time tables, also known as a schedule, work wonders!

The special education program is far from finished, far from perfect, but it is running and it has a time table, which is more than they had last year.

Mr. Chips

This might look like a Coca-Cola stan but it is a restaurant that is called Mr. Chips.

It is the closest thing to McDonald's you can find here in Rwanda! And believe it or not the burgers and fries (known as chips here) are really good!

One of my favorite places to go :)

Awareness

We had a workshop for all of the teacher assistants. They are the teachers that work closely with the children that have special needs.

I opened up the workshop by doing a simulation on what it feels like to have autism. All the teachers had to do was write one sentence...while wearing blue tinted goggles, using their non-dominant hand, with a red pen, on a line that was rounded and slanted up, with music in the background, with someone running all around the room, with someone talking in their ear about nonsense and pointing at their paper...but all they had to do was listen to what I was saying and write it down.

The teachers could no believe that is what these students were going through all the time.

Autism: a life long developmental disability which alters the development of language, sensory and social.

The teachers quickly understood that these students were not asking the way they were because they were being disobedient or lazy but because they have a disability.

Yeah these students might have special needs but, they are people...kids...created by God, in His perfect way....they were made special...just like you....and me.

If you want to see the world through they eyes of a child with autism click here
(scroll down to the video).