Sunday, October 12, 2008

Oh Where, Oh Where

Will the Lemleys live next year? Oh where or where will they be?
Recruiting is starting to pick up a bit. As most of you know, we're leaving Peru at the end of this school year. So, we're looking at openings and a great place for Maximo to live and start school. We were so naive when we got into the International Teaching "circuit" and really lucked out with Colegio Roosevelt. We've had a great four years here. Now there are a lot more questions to ask and many more things to consider. (ooh, that sounds like a good post - questions to ask potential new employers)
One of the fantastic things about moving is the learning curve of going somewhere new - a new culture, job, life. It's great to soak up a new environment - it's kind of like looking through a child's perspective (wide eyed and open mouthed) - everything being new: the language, the food, the customs, the sights, sounds, and smells.
A great advantage of living in different parts of the world is learning geography. My long term rote memorization is not that good unless I can somehow connect with it. Before living in Peru, I couldn't honestly identify all the countries in South America. I've learned so much about South America, especially Peru - the people, cultures, and the geography because I've taught it in Humanities or because we've traveled there.
So, hopefully next year, we'll be learning about Asia, Europe or the Middle East (we're going to save Africa until after our family is complete - health care issues).
Right now, my sixth grade class is reading one of my favorite books, The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. It's about a girl growing up in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. As a pre-reading activity, we talk about Afghanistan to give them a lot of background information to help them understand the history and geography as it pertains to the book. One of the activities we do is trying to find Afghanistan and locate its neighbors.
Try it here.
It's addictive. The first time I did it, I was horrible. I'm better, but I still don't get it perfect.
The sixth grade record right now is 1 minute, 20 seconds. What's your time?

3 comments:

Celia said...

Glad I didn't time that! If it wasn't for RISK online, I'd be at this all day!

It'd be great to have you in Asia...

K. Welbes said...

Asia, Asia, Asia. I am currently addicted to Traveler IQ Challenge.

Julie said...

oh, Kirsten, now I"m hooked... this is a great time passer during conferences!