Ramadan Kareem!

Ramadan begins tomorrow, September 12th. Things will be a little different around town for the next month. I am not sure how much will be different for us at the American School of Dubai, but we are expected to respect their observances and keep from eating or drinking in public. At school we have to abstain from consuming any foods or drinks in the classrooms or outside. The Muslim students are going to be spending their lunch periods in the library, away from any food consumption. From sun up to sun down the Muslim people will be fasting from any food or drinks. Sun up is around 5:30am and sun down is around 7pm each day. We are told to be careful driving in the afternoons, as the Muslim citizens are famished and dehydrated and are rushing to get home so they can eat and drink. The driving is already crazy enough out here, so we will probably avoid driving around that time. The malls and dining places are extending their hours to accomodate those observing Ramadan. Restaurants and supermarkets will be closed during the day, and opening at sun down. One big issue is with Muslims sleeping during the day and then eating their regular meals at night. This, of course, defeats the purpose of Ramadan, as they are not going through the full sacrifice of the fast. I hope to learn more about the practices of Ramadan, and I will keep posting as we notice and learn new and interesting things. 2 interesting things of note... the McDonald's near our school has decorated their building with tons of Christmas lights... or, I suppose you would call them "Ramadan" lights here. Also of interest... see the picture below...


Look closely and you will see a goat in the back of this truck eating from some grass above it. This truck is actually filled with goats. They will be used by Muslims in sacrificial ceremonies and practices in observance of Ramadan. We have seen several of these red Toyota trucks carrying loads of goats in the ba-a-a-a-a-a-ack.

-isaac

Art center intro

Here is your first look at the ASD art center! The kiddos are hard at work and they are putting forth their best efforts with every project. Take a look...

We have a good sized oval rug in the middle of the room where students gather at the beginning of class to receive instructions and directions. Half of the rug is in English and the other half is in Spanish.

Off in the distance is a 3-D sculpture of a human figure. I don't exactly know its purpose... but it adds some nice color and artistic interest to the room. It was created by the previous teacher, Donny Hansen, who is now teaching art in the middle school.

Each class has a maximum of 18 students. Here you can see that we have half of the class on one side of the room, and the other half is behind me in this picture. Carol, my para-pro, and I are able to split the class in half and give closer instruction to each individual student. In the foreground is my work area, which sits in the middle of the room.

It has been a lot of fun getting started with the elementary art class here at ASD. It has taken a little while for me to feel completely comfortable with the position, but I am enjoying every minute of it. My experience with actually teaching art is somewhat limited, so I am learning on the job how to design and implement curriculum and manage an art class. I feel more comfortable with each day passing, and I have a great para-professional helping me with the day to day activities. We have many interesting projects lined up for the kiddos, and I am excited to see how each one materializes. I am already blown away by the display of creativity from grade 5 on down to grade 2. I can't wait to see what this year has in store! If you want to see pictures of student work and keep updated to the activity in the ASD art center, check out my web site dedicated to the class. It is in its beginning stages of development, but there are a few good pics to check out. I will keep it updated as work is completed and new events arise.
Thanks for stoppin' by.
-Isaac

Jenni's class... and a little from the apartment

Jenni's tree... I told my students that I brought it with me from Oregon, and was met with quite a few skeptical faces... =)


Jenni's classroom


Lots of windows, so it's nice and bright=) My desk is in the middle of the wall, covered in all the kids drawings.



Kristen's (my para) little nook



hehe... I found this funny camel and put it up next to Kristen's desk =) She has a nice sense of humor, so she left it there.



The kids love the connecting cubes! We are currently learning place value, so the cubes are a staple in the classroom.



This is Kaan... you will likely hear stories of him... he is quickly becoming one of my favorite people of all times!



Alexander and Julian... class artists and best pals!



Yay for cubes!



I absolutely LOVE the spelling for "perhaps" Ms. Isabelle is quite the little character!


These are the wicked birds who stalk us!


More cuddle time! We thought it was quite funny (and appropriate) that our sofas were part of the "cuddler collection"


She's too cute!

Into the Desert

Last Wednesday Isaac and I joined two of our coworkers on a trip to Ajman, another Emirate. We got out of the city and into the desert. Instead of skyscrapers we were surrounded by camels, donkeys and goats.

I didn't have my camera ready for the camels, but I got a shot of the donkeys=)

TGI... T???

Its going to take a while to get used to that... our new work week runs from Sunday to Thursday. This Thursday we attended an all-staff cocktail party at our superintendents house, and then a group of us went to Hops Fest. It was a long, but fun-filled evening=).


Cheers to a great first week!


Erin, Dan, Shaun, Ashley, and Isaac


Teryl and Jenni... plus peeping Ike=)


Cortney, Erin, Laura, Ashley, Teryl and Jenni

Jenni's Spectacular Second Graders

We have made it through our first week of classes! It was exhausting, but wonderful=). We could not be more impressed with our students. They are all so sweet, well-mannered, and inquisitive.
To help us make it through our busy days, we both have full-time paraprofessionals who work in our classes (such blessings!). Ms. Carol helps Isaac run the art room, while Ms. Kristen keeps up with my photocopying and organizing! They are both wonderful women who are familiar with the school and have helped make our transition into the classroom much more enjoyable.
Isaac has 16 classes (all of 2nd-5th graders) and I have 16 students in my 2nd grade class! The diversity in my classroom alone is mind-blowing! I have students from Belgium, Iran, the UAE, Turkey, Singapore, Philippines, USA, Canada, Australia, Spain, India, New Zealand... and the list goes on! Nearly all of my students are bilingual, and all have traveled internationally. Many of these children have visited more places on this earth than we have! We will be taking more pictures of our classrooms this week, but here is one of my class from last Thursday. It was Victoria's 8th birthday, so we wrapped up the day with a party, complete with yummy chocolate cake that Victoria made all by herself.


Mrs. Marshall, Ms. Kristen and our 2nd grade class!

some odds and ends...

Here are a few of the random pictures we have taken the past few weeks...

Isaac and Bella spend lots of time snuggling on our new loveseat


Kristi, Teryl, and I overcoming the common "3 seat belt to 2 buckle" problem in Dubai taxis =)


Our good friend Dan, the new high school math teacher... 1 straw+1 straw = mmmmm


Muslim Barbie... seriously!


Construction cranes everywhere


The Burj Tower (taken from a moving car, so its not the best picture)


There are so many mosques and prayer rooms in Dubai that all Muslims are within walking distance of one... this is in IKEA =)


Jen (high school counselor, 1/3 of the trio responsible for our wonderfully warm welcome to Dubai), Dan, and Ike


Some of the beautiful ladies we work with... Allison, Ashley, Erin, and Teryl

Al Barsha Views

Sorry we are so slow in getting pictures up. We packed our camera-computer cord in our shipment (which arrived a few days ago) and though we had the internet hooked up at our apartment a few days ago, it is not functioning properly. Our shipment was quite large and took over much of our apartment, so it is a bit of a disaster at the moment. As a result, we haven't taken any apartment pictures yet, but they'll be up soon!
We are living in an area of Dubai called Al Barsha. It is an up-and-coming neighborhood, and the amount of building going on around us is unbelievable! We live on the 13th floor and are surrounded by other skyscrapers (most of which are still being constructed). We read that 25% of the world's construction cranes are currently in Dubai, and we believe it! Our friend Dan counted 64 cranes from his apartment windows the other day!

This is the view from one of our bedroom windows.


Our first Dubai sunrise


View from our other bedroom window


Yet another bedroom view (towards The Greens, an apartment complex across the street)


It's far too hot to spend much time outside! Luckily for Bella our hallways are long enough to play ball =)


Miller enjoys watching the construction going on outside


Miller is also entertained by two ugly, screeching birds that frequent our balcony.

the journey

Here are a few snapshots from our travels to Dubai...


We've packed our bags (and have our tickets)... we're ready to go!



Dinner in Frankfort, Germany


When in Rome... or should we say, when in Germany =)


Isaac REALLY liked his dinner!

Our New Address!

For those of you who enjoy snail mail, our new mailing address is:

Isaac and Jennifer Marshall
c/o American School of Dubai
PO Box 71188
Dubai
United Arab Emirates