Thursday, April 27, 2017

~Today was Good ~ Today was Fun ~ Tomorrow is Another One ~ Dr. Seuss~

Dr. Seuss week March 1-6

Yves classes celebrating Red and White Day with cake and a movie!
Don't our teachers look like so much fun?! 
Pajama Party!
T. Daniel and T. Sofia with the Care Bears!
T. Grace and T. Jacob with the Bananas!
T. Doris and T. Kyle with the Waves!
To celebrate the brilliant and creative life and work of Theodor Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss, our school spends a full week in celebration. This year it was split over two weeks, because there is a memorial day in Taiwan at the end of February leading us to have a three-day week. We kicked off the first day with a Pajama party in every classroom with teachers and students reading Dr. Seuss favorites in every classroom. In kindergarten we rotated teachers, in Yves they made a classroom fort and combined classrooms for a reading party.  
T. Jill and T. Josilin with the Illustrators!
T. Charvala and T. Tyler with the Space Rangers!
T. Kristin and T. Marcie with the Unicorns!

Every day teachers would take a vote on the student in each class, and the teacher, they thought was best dressed for the day. On day two, we had crazy hat & crazy sock day for all grade levels and teachers. In the afternoon, everyone would get to try green eggs and ham for snack time! This was a very fun day. Besides the students looking adorable, I was also gladly surprised to see the students' and teachers' creativity was getting better each day! 
The Koalas, T. Anita, and I making a circle with our silly socks.
T. Charvala and T. Tyler with their oh-so-happy grade 6 Rocketeers! ^ ^
(I actually see some good smiles in there!)
The wild Waves class in the wacky hats! 

On the last day of the three day week we had CraZy HaiR DaY! In the afternoon, we had games and crafts for the classes to do. The younger students made their own colorful Cat in the Hat with T. Daniel and their own plate of Green Eggs and Ham with T. Jacob. With T. Kyle they played a red fish, blue fish, yellow fish fishing game in teams of two. 
T. Grace won for crazy hair day! EEK!
T. Josilin won as well by turning her hair into a doughnut!
She even let me sprinkle some cinnamon on top! ^ ^
On Monday, we wrapped up our Dr. Seuss celebrations with an ALL Red and White Day! The classes watched a short film over one of the Dr. Seuss favorites and had cake together. 
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! 

Listening Contest March 18th, 2017

Another grand event my school puts on in March is the Listening Contest! This contest is for our Daban to Grade 6 classes with a first, second, and third place winner! To get things started we had two wonderful hosts for the event, then to help pump up the energy in the crowd we had T. Abu and his team. 
T. Abu and his team got everyone up and dancing, and as the anticipation for the announcement of the contest winners grew, students, teachers, parents, and faculty played a racing game with giant soccer balls. Team Nan Men Vs. Team Shang An!!
  

Happy Children's Day! 

Teacher Testimonials: "I have lived in Taiwan for over 10 years. I have found it to be a peaceful and laid back place to live. Furthermore the island boasts a stunningly beautiful landscape.... Moreover the people are fantastic." - T. Kyle
We would have another four day weekend in the beginning of April for Children's Day and Tomb Sweeping Day, so before then, we celebrated the children by having a cotton candy machine in the school! We also had class visitors in every classroom that would teach the students how to make a simple animal figure with colorful self- hardening clay. In the youngest classes they made caterpillars, then worked up to pandas and Spiderman. 

CARE BEARS AND THE COTTON CANDY MACHINE!! ^
BANANAS AND THE COTTON CANDY MACHINE!! v
Teacher Testimonial: "One thing I enjoy about working at Cornel is its focus on music and the performing arts.... A highlight of my experience at Cornel has been using our own Rainbow Time recording studio to record an album of songs for my students." -T. Jacob.
Watch the Waves make the cotton candy fly!
T. Cleo did so well with all the kids to make it exciting for them.
I love my cutie Koalas ^^
Seedlings!
Teacher Testimonials: "Even though Taiwan is a small island, there is still so much to do and see. There is something for everyone including beaches, mountains, markets, and historical temples......Through working together at Cornel, I have made some great friends. These friends are people who I can collaborate with professionally, spend time with outside of school, and travel with around Taiwan and Asia. " -T. Kristin
Teacher Testimonial: "This small, beautiful country is a hidden treasure in Asia. It's developed yet inexpensive, progressive but steeped in tradition, and challenging while being very welcoming....No matter where you teach abroad, be prepared to be flexible and patient, but the people in this country make it  a bit easier.....While one of the scariest parts of moving abroad can be leaving your family and friends behind, rest assured you will be receiving some new "family members" in the form of your colleagues at Cornel." - T. Tyler
Did you know they give out government awards for students who healthy?!
What a weird but wonderful idea!
Our three healthy boys are all pretty meaty! Sean, Ian, and Raptor! 
The Waves went on a field trip to the strawberry fields just outside of the city. We were also joined by the Joeys and the Leopards classes from Nan Men Campus. When we arrived the students were given brief instructions on how to put on their strawberry pickin' boots, how to look for good strawberries that are worth eating, and how to properly cut a strawberry you've chosen to take home. Each student set out to find a dozen strawberries, while I and a few other teachers set out to fill up our basket. I was eating the most delicious strawberries everyday for the next week! 
Taiwan Birthday Cake continues to be eccentric and almost too cute to eat. 
The gorgeous Rainbow Village imitation made by T. Josilin , T. Kristin, and their classes.
Two of my favorite siblings!
So sad to see them go in two months! 

Shang An Annual Class Performances April 18-21

Care Bears to the Pet Shop- April 25, 2017
Teacher Testimonials: " to those of you who are unsure of what to do with your careers after you finish, I highly recommend that you travel and see the world. Cornel is a great place to start." - T. Daniel 
This was the second field trip to the Pet Shop for me, but the first with puppies!
A fourth of the shop is fish and other tank creatures. They also have kittens, birds, ferrets, chinchillas, bunnies, guinea pigs, mice, rats, turtles, snakes, spiders, iguanas, lizards, and the first time I went they had a piglet! 
What an amazing year it has been as my first year as Head Teacher and Director of Shang-An. I have been blessed with great teachers, and a wonderful staff to work with. BUT I can still say, it's the students that keep my heart full and make me happy and proud to come to work everyday! 
Graduation season is upon us! - K