exciting news...sweet munchkins...camping...and more!

So this literally just happened today in class...(this whole post was already typed, I just had to add a few more pictures this evening when I got home)...I could NOT resist posting this amazing little gem! Have I mentioned how TRULY amazing my little ones are and that I am officially Obsessed with them!! The girls had an hour free time today because the boys were doing something for boy scouts...This is what they filled their time with...

So I think I'm getting to the point where I don't have to say this anymore but....this post will most likely be all over the place and just a bunch of random, useless information! :)

So in my last post I think I mentioned that my firsties had to take 8 exams (4 written and 4 oral for math, science, English, and health). So the week after exams we hold parent teacher conferences. I have 35 munchkins so that pretty much took up all of my spare time. We put a sign up sheet in the EP office with our available times and the parents sign up whenever they have time. Although it was time consuming, I met with 30 out of 35 parents! It was so neat to meet all of the parents! Some parents spoke English while others needed a translator. :D  I am so proud of all of my little munchkins and can't wait to watch them grow throughout the rest of the year. I guess this would be a good spot to add in a small little detail about my life...

I have committed to another 6 months in Thailand!

I now will be staying until APRIL 2015 (instead of 10/14)!!!

I made this decision because at this point I would be leaving my students in the middle of their school year. As English Language Learners (or any children for that matter) it is hard to transition between multiple teachers and feel comfortable speaking another language!

The school year starts in May with the semester ending in October...and the second semester starting in November and ending in March. Not only will I be staying for the whole school year but I will be moving up to P2 with my little munchkins! I am so excited to have the opportunity to work with them again!

Teacher Lexi did yoga with a few of my girls during PE...
Soon she was teaching a whole class! 

 

 

 Some obviously took it a little more serious that others! :) 

Extra practice for Prim and Proud!

Stretch it out! 

Jade and Jeen (brother and sister)!
They are so sweet to each other!
P3 and P1

So the day after PE, I walk into my classroom before school and my students were doing yoga on their own! It was the cutest thing ever! Gam was clearly the leader and had the boys following along very well! 

Gam teaching the boys Yoga! 

Yoga? Crunches? Just Chillin? Who knows! :) 

So this is what happens when little munchkins get a hold of your iPad during lunch!

Just finished 3D Shapes in Math!

Sooo 2 weekends ago a group of foreign teachers went on a trip to Khao Yai National Park. Khao Yai isn't too far from where I live but after all the switching of transportation and food, etc it took us about 4 hours to get to the actual park. We got to the park around 4pm and rented the necessary camping gear (tents and mats)...we brought blankets and pillows but we definitely weren't well prepared... it was FREEZING!..and by that I mean 50s maybe...and I know everyone back home has had it a lot worse ;) but when you are used to the weather here, 50 with a little blanket is miserable! Not only were we all freezing but apparently Thai people like to get up at 5am and start talking, yelling, singing, who knows...It was so incredibly loud that non of us got much sleep... So Saturday evening we got our tents set up...we had 5 tents for the 9 of us that were there. The boys took off to collect wood so that we could make a fire while the girls hung out and drank :) . We ate dinner and hung out around the fire for the evening...nice relaxing atmosphere... Sunday we woke up and packed the tents up and got ready for the day...We went on a little hike and saw some beautiful waterfalls, rivers, and scenery in general! We didn't spend nearly enough time there but it is hard to do everything you want to do with so many people...Ashley and I are already planning a trip back so we can do more exploring!

Setting up our tent! 

Camp Site

Building a fire...

We brought a bag of oranges to munch on while camping...
I'm pretty sure the majority of the bag went to the monkeys! :) 

Good morning...

from 2 people that did not sleep at all!

 Between the freezing weather and all of the 

Thais that decided it was a great idea to 

wake up at 5:30 and continue partying...

Driving thru the National Park on the way to/from the camp site, 

monkeys literally line the sides of the road! They are everywhere! 

Driving home we happen to pass an elephant 
on the side of the road...no big deal! 
(picture taken while driving by on bike)

Munchkins being silly with the Santa faces they made on Christmas! 

I think that is about it for now! Just figured the sooner I post the better!...maybe not as much rambling!


Again, I can NOT thank you all for the continuous LOVE and SUPPORT... It means more to me than you can even imagine! The love and support from everyone makes my decision to stay here that much easier...simply knowing I have so many great people to come home too when I am ready! 

Miss you all! 
LD