A successful outing

Today I had a successful day. Nothing big was achieved, although it was a fairly good day at school. The success came in the form of a shopping trip.

Our current IPC unit has an extensive list of resources needed, one of which is PH testing strips. When I was at school I'm fairly sure we called it litmus paper. There were a few alternatives, but they are quite complex, so if I could find what I needed it would be good.
Not having easy access to a science teaching supply store, I thought that a medical supply store might just have what we needed. So, this afternoon, I headed out on my trusty moto to the area known to some of us as "pharmacy corner". Yes, there are literally dozens of pharmacies and medical equipment stores all located on the same couple of city blocks. I tried a couple of smaller places without success (no doubt hampered by my lack of Khmer language) and then a bigger pharmacy. Still no luck, so I headed down the street a couple of stores and walked into a place with a name that seemed to have good potential. A young man opened the door for me and offered to help, but litmus paper just wasn't working. When I talked about testing acid and alkaline, another young man behind the counter seemed to know exactly what I was looking for, and told the first young man where to find it.

Hooray! It seems like a small thing, but finding this will make our unit of inquiry that much more interesting for the students and definitely simpler for the teachers. Yes, that's what I'd call a successful outing!

Why I do what I do!

When I became a teacher I wanted to make a difference for the children I taught. Sometimes you hear about it, and other times you don't. Today I was privileged to receive the notes below from a student and his Dad. I've blanked out the names to protect their identities. It is little notes like this that make the long days and sometimes nights preparing work and marking it, and just thinking about the children. I've received various notes from students and parents over the years, but this one was really special. I should add that not all parents want their children in my class. There are some who don't. That's OK. Meanwhile, I can only hope that they've seen Jesus is me, because on my own I'd be the mean, scary teacher this boy thought I was before he joined my class. I thank God for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of Cambodian children. I thank God that He has softened me, and helped me become a kinder, more caring, while still strict, teacher. I pray that He will continue to guide and lead me to make the difference in the lives of the children He brings in to my classroom.

Little things cause a big smile

A couple of weeks ago I posted about how finding Gravox in one of the local supermarkets made me happy. Well this morning when I walked into my classroom to get my planning and prep done for the coming week I immediately spotted two things which made me smile.

After 23 days (5 weeks) of school, I finally have a power outlet behind my desk! Yay, that means I now only need one powerboard instead of a 10m extension lead plus a 4.5m powerboard plus a 3m powerboard all connected together to run the computer, data projector and speakers! Hooray!

On the same wall above that were two screws! Hooray. Now I can hang my small magnetic whiteboard and my small corkboard up. I tried other types of hooks for these items, but they just didn't work, so I've been waiting about 3 weeks for these to be installed. Unfortunately at the same time as I got sick, so did our maintenance man. Yep, little things bring a smile.

So this is what the wall behind my desk now looks like.

That white track down the corner hides the wiring for the power outlet. Very neat and tidy, thank you very much. I'm not sure it would be legal in Australia to have powerpoints on the same circuit as the air-conditioner, but I'm pretty sure that's what they've done. Hey, electricity is electricity, and I'm not going to be complaining.

While I had the camera out, I thought I'd take a couple more photos. The first is inside the classroom, showing an updated view of my English Language Arts wall, now we've started adding strategies to the CAFE board, and there are more posters up.

Finally, I've included a couple of photos of the view out of one of my classroom windows.

I now have to keep the blinds closed all the time, as there is a lot of welding going on out there. I need to protect my students' eyes (as well as those of the adults in the room). I also know that if I left the blinds open I would have several boys (and maybe some girls) who would find it very hard to concentrate on school work. The cement floor you can see is level with the third floor (the one below my classroom). There's at least one more floor still to be poured.

Well, that's it for this week. Time to finish off a few jobs, do some laundry and get some sleep.