My six day break is almost over. It's almost time for bed, once I post this and hang the washing up to dry. It was a much needed break, and I'm looking forward to seeing my students again tomorrow. I wonder how many will turn up and how many will take the extra day to make a 10 day break. Who knows? I have to be there, so I have lessons planned for those who do come. Meanwhile I thought I'd report back on the achievements of my break.
On Saturday I made a lengthy "To Do" list, which I posted earlier. I'm happy to report that I managed to cross off 39 items out of 50, and one of those remaining I made progress on but cannot complete as it's a Unit Plan which is still a work in progress. Here's what that list looks like now.
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| Very satisfying |
One thing that doesn't appear on this list is to take a mini-vacation. With all I've dealt with since school started, I decided that it would be good to treat myself to a couple of nights in a hotel. I did that, and it was good. I didn't do a lot, mostly staying in my room, and eating in the hotel dining room, but I did try to have a swim one day. When I went down to the main pool there seemed to be quite a few people, including children, already there, so I thought I'd try the roof-top pool instead. That's really more of a spa than a pool, but the spa part wasn't going, so I just relaxed in the water for a while. It was when I was getting out that I got a bit of a fright. I put my foot on the wooden surround of the pool, and next thing I knew it had collapsed underneath my weight. Fortunately I wasn't hurt, but it was a bit worrying. Never mind, I wasn't hurt, and I had enjoyed relaxing and watching the clouds building for a while. Later I enjoyed soaking in a hot bath! Yes, it's one of those things I enjoy occasionally. It used to be a great way to warm up on a cold Toowoomba winter's night. Here in Cambodia, I need to be very cool, in an air-conditioned room preferably, so I can enjoy the warm water. Other things I enjoyed were watching TV while playing Scrabble on the computer, lots of reading (the room was lovely and bright during the day), and some colouring in. One project that didn't make it on the above list was to complete a sample "Book Butterfly". I'd already done all the writing, so it was just the colouring in to make it beautiful, and that was definitely a fun holiday job. Here's the finished product.
I do have another sample that I use with the children, but this one is for a book that I use to teach the whole process. Last year I did it on an overhead transparency using the document camera, but I thought this year it would be good to have one that I can display for the children to refer to as they work on their own posters.
The other not-so-fun thing that I did was visit the dentist. Twice. Not only that, but I've still got two more visits to come. Friday wasn't too bad, with a thorough cleaning and two teeth filled, but today I was there for ninety minutes and had six teeth filled. Grrr. For someone who had no fillings until she was 16 it was a pretty sad state of affairs. Meanwhile I'm thankful for good dental services at about half the price of similar treatment in Australia (or maybe it's better than that). Next time I won't leave it 3 years between checkups!
