Oh Man! How does the time go by so quickly!!!! Alright, another fast update....
International Dinner: Very fancy. Quite fun. I love when the students can dress in cultural costume. It's so fun to see the different patterns and colors!! Most of the classes sang, but the third grade did a skit. They performed Baba Yiga, a Russian folktale. Some were narrators, others were silent actors. Then halfway through the whole cast changed as there are two Grade 3 classes.
After the performances it was time to eat! Parents bring in food representative of their culture and guest can travel around from booth to booth sampling! I had SouthKorean sushi, Indian curry, Canadian venison and maple syrup, Swiss chocolate and cheese, Russian pancakes, and falafel from Israel. It was a delicious evening!!
Report cards were due the following Monday so the day after the International Dinner, I didn't leave the house. I wrote. And wrote. Four paragraphs per kid.
We started a new unit all about healthy lifestyle and balanced choices. (I am really mastering that work/life balance.) We took the kids to the local grocery store for a scavenger hunt where they had to find things from each food group. It was the first official field trip, although some of the students said it didn't count because we walked there. The poor little market was infiltrated by little bodies, not once, but twice because the other third grade class followed shortly after mine.
Parent Teacher Conferences. Actually, the student did most of it. I was not told that the digital portfolio students had been working on would be presented at these conferences. So, despite the many lessons and things we could (should) have been doing the day of conferences we instead took almost the whole day to polish and publish the sites. The end results were cool though and the students did a great job presenting. Plus, most of them took the whole 20 minutes and saved me from having to talk a bunch! ha!
Conferences were Thursday after school and Friday morning. Once they finished we were free for a four day weekend!! I went with three others from the school to Istanbul for the weekend! It was really the first I have left Latvia since moving here back in July. (Finland doesn't count because I wasn't even in Latvia for 24 hours). I was Istanbul last November too and it was fun to go back. We stayed near the Galata Tower and had the Best possible view. We had a great few days of relaxing, wandering about, shopping, and eating. Oh the food! It was good!
As wonderful as the trip was I have to admit I was eager and excited to return to Riga. No real reason other than I love this place. It is indeed my home!
We returned from Istanbul for a three day week. Thursday was our first 'real' field trip. My class went to the Lāči Bakery. The students watched a quick film, made a giant pretzel, stamped out a few cookies, and got to hold some huge loaves of bread! We also got to wear some awesome outfits!! It was a blast and the students did really well. I am excited for our next field trip.
Friday I went shopping to find a dress to wear Saturday night and bumped into some from the school on my way. After successfully finding something I met up with them at new restaurant for a few drinks. And a wine-tasting of sorts.
Saturday night I attended the Marine Ball with a few others from the school. We spent the afternoon doing hair and nails and then enjoyed a fancy evening. The honored guest speaker was actually a student's parent and I saw several other parents there too. It was another fun night of dancing and laughs.
After an easy week and a fun weekend, I was of course greeted by an overwhelming Monday. I am discovering that things come in waves here. I survived one wave but forgot another was close to follow. Really close.
International Dinner: Very fancy. Quite fun. I love when the students can dress in cultural costume. It's so fun to see the different patterns and colors!! Most of the classes sang, but the third grade did a skit. They performed Baba Yiga, a Russian folktale. Some were narrators, others were silent actors. Then halfway through the whole cast changed as there are two Grade 3 classes.
After the performances it was time to eat! Parents bring in food representative of their culture and guest can travel around from booth to booth sampling! I had SouthKorean sushi, Indian curry, Canadian venison and maple syrup, Swiss chocolate and cheese, Russian pancakes, and falafel from Israel. It was a delicious evening!!
Report cards were due the following Monday so the day after the International Dinner, I didn't leave the house. I wrote. And wrote. Four paragraphs per kid.
We started a new unit all about healthy lifestyle and balanced choices. (I am really mastering that work/life balance.) We took the kids to the local grocery store for a scavenger hunt where they had to find things from each food group. It was the first official field trip, although some of the students said it didn't count because we walked there. The poor little market was infiltrated by little bodies, not once, but twice because the other third grade class followed shortly after mine.
Parent Teacher Conferences. Actually, the student did most of it. I was not told that the digital portfolio students had been working on would be presented at these conferences. So, despite the many lessons and things we could (should) have been doing the day of conferences we instead took almost the whole day to polish and publish the sites. The end results were cool though and the students did a great job presenting. Plus, most of them took the whole 20 minutes and saved me from having to talk a bunch! ha!
Conferences were Thursday after school and Friday morning. Once they finished we were free for a four day weekend!! I went with three others from the school to Istanbul for the weekend! It was really the first I have left Latvia since moving here back in July. (Finland doesn't count because I wasn't even in Latvia for 24 hours). I was Istanbul last November too and it was fun to go back. We stayed near the Galata Tower and had the Best possible view. We had a great few days of relaxing, wandering about, shopping, and eating. Oh the food! It was good!As wonderful as the trip was I have to admit I was eager and excited to return to Riga. No real reason other than I love this place. It is indeed my home!We returned from Istanbul for a three day week. Thursday was our first 'real' field trip. My class went to the Lāči Bakery. The students watched a quick film, made a giant pretzel, stamped out a few cookies, and got to hold some huge loaves of bread! We also got to wear some awesome outfits!! It was a blast and the students did really well. I am excited for our next field trip.Friday I went shopping to find a dress to wear Saturday night and bumped into some from the school on my way. After successfully finding something I met up with them at new restaurant for a few drinks. And a wine-tasting of sorts.
Saturday night I attended the Marine Ball with a few others from the school. We spent the afternoon doing hair and nails and then enjoyed a fancy evening. The honored guest speaker was actually a student's parent and I saw several other parents there too. It was another fun night of dancing and laughs.After an easy week and a fun weekend, I was of course greeted by an overwhelming Monday. I am discovering that things come in waves here. I survived one wave but forgot another was close to follow. Really close.
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