Tuesday, December 16

First full day at the preschool, and with Lacey and Maren along for the ride as well. Aeden didn't want to nap and Lacey declared she didn't want to ever try nap time with him again. Probably a good idea anyway, since she's just a distraction for him.

Afternoon duty is cycling through all the children on 15 minute intervals in the computer room, while the other groups of students are doing special activities like art, ceramics, music, drama, etc. with the other teachers. It was exhausting since I don't know any names except in the kindergarten, and there is one computer that one child at a time uses while the others look on. I tried to keep everyone (6-8 students at a time) engaged, but that rarely happened. Maybe I should be glad I don't like the tasks so I won't be tempted to stay full-days and overdo it. My un-practiced eye feels like there could be a much better use of time, and I continue to be puzzled about how to have students learning English be able to interact with the English-speaking students in town so that they can teach each other. It seems like such a wasted resource to have native English speaking children not working with the Turkish children, but I don't know for sure how or what to pitch for some kind of cooperative program and how to make it good for both groups.

It is so cold in the school that I dug out my silk long johns and have been wearing silks, shirt, and sweater then leaving my scarf on all day. As proof that I'm not exaggerating, I offer this little tidbit, which Brian nearly didn't believe: Maren asked to wear her coat inside. Maren doesn't even usually wear a coat outside; Brian's comment was that her idea of a coat was putting on another T-shirt layer. But she was cold. Brrr. It has been about 0 celsius in the mornings, which I understand is not even chilly compared to the weather in western Washington right now. Brian is so jealous of the snow he's been watching the WADOT traffic cams to see it on the highways. We keep hearing about the cold and snow we're due to have here, but have only had a few flurries, and it has only been about 0 celsius, not much colder than that in the daytime. But I will admit I have finally kept windows closed for longer periods, and I love coming home from school to warm slippers to defrost my toes. Our front hall wardrobe is built around the plumbing and is quite warm inside, so our shoes and coats are toasty-warm. That and the radiator-turned-heated-towel-bar in the bathroom are kind of nice perks when it is chilly out.