School has begun

School is in full swing for both Moe and I.  Moe has officially started his masters classes.  He has class 3 times a week for 3 hours a day.  He is enjoying getting to know his classmates and his professors.  I love seeing him excited about it and talking about what he wants to do.  He is truly a blessing to me.

I am almost done with week 2 of my second year of teaching.  I can hardly believe it.  It is going very well and I am very pleased with things so far. I hope it only continues to improve.  I feel so much more prepared and capable this year.  Last year every event and unit and lesson and everything was new. It is so much more enjoyable when you have some what of an idea of whats going on!

I have also begun coaching volleyball. I am coaching the Co-Ed Middle School Volleyball team.  We have 21 students on the team, so it is a bit of a challenge.  Also, we do all of our practices outside, though we play our games inside.  And we practice twice a week with one of those practices being a game day.  Sports in Thailand, or at least at the international schools of Chiang Mai, is so so SO very different for me!  I am truly enjoying it though.  Hopefully the students are too!

Well thats all I really have for you.  Other than being busy with school not much else new is happening. I am dead tired after practice today so I am going to bed early.  I thought I would share this video with you. Some of you might enjoy it more than others :)

Classroom 2013-2014

My classroom this year makes me very happy.  As always, there are still things to do and surfaces to clean, but after the first day I was too exhausted to care enough to stay late at school.  I came home and put my feet up for awhile before tackling the mound of things I brought home to do! Ugh the never ending joyful life of a teacher :)  Here are some pictures of my classroom if you care!

Supply center and bulletin board

Student cubbies neatly organized!

Library baskets and reading area

new writing bulletin board

some library books labeled finally!!

View from the door. Love my Pom Poms made from tissue paper. 

Homework and Objectives chart

Word Wall and Alphabet on the white board. 

We had a great first day of school. My kids are so well behaved (we'll see how long it lasts ;)) and kind.  As part of our team building/bonding we came up with this class promise together in which the whole class signed in agreement to do.  What a great group, they truly came up with this on their own!

Random moments in 4B

So my class has been testing me a lot lately.  It has been frustrating. But we are all working on it.  Some of them are very cute and clearly notice when Ms. Brittany is frustrated so they try to help! It is sweet. Here are some fun things that I have had to deal with!

Today, I had a student carted out of my classroom in a wheelchair. He had tremendous pain in his side.  Nurse sent him home/to the hospital to check to see if he has kidney stones :(  poor kid.  My whole class cared for him though.  We had a moment of silence/prayer for him after he left and hopefully he will recover quickly and be back soon!

Today, I had a student tell me that I was a bad teacher because I had to look at his spelling list paper to give him the next word for his spelling list. He was appalled that I did not have his list memorized.  Additionally, he did not care that I have 4 spelling lists to work through, teach, prepare for!

I have a girl with mega ADD.  She gets distracted by everything, literally even her fingers distract her.  One day I was quite frustrated because I felt like she (or lack of learning support) was holding up the entire class. It took her 90 minutes to complete 10 of the 21 problems of the math quiz.  I stopped her there and the class had to move on.  Friday, she completed 11 problems in 40 minutes!!! We are making progress folks!

I had to explain paper cuts to half of my class.

Valentines Day, the word 'love', romance books, guys playing girls parts in a play, etc. make almost my entire class pretend hurl.

Some of my boys were fascinated by my painted toes during read aloud time Friday. So fascinated that they were touching my toes.... which in this culture is brave.... or rude, depending on how you view it!

We had a journal entry entitled: "While you were at school your mom turned into an alien.  What happens when you get home?"  Six kids asked me if this really happened and asked if what they wrote had to be true.  Creativity is NOT their strong suite.

I had to explain what a pair of something was.

Subject verb agreement is torture for ESL or ETL (English as a Third Language) students!

We are doing Country Reports.  One child is researching Canada.  They have to find 2 famous people from their country.  I learned that many many famous people are from Canada!

Google is a website with information on it.  Google is the only way to use the internet.  Not using Google is like death.

One day I said "4 on the floor" twenty times in a matter of 80 minutes.

I have a student who every morning responds to my "Good morning!" with 'Hey Bro!'

Last Wednesday, after our assembly, I played basketball and poison with my students.  We had 15 minutes left of school and they were shot and so was I.  We went outside and played.  I played too! It was loads of fun.

I know there is more fun stuff to share but currently my mind is away from me.  I will try to keep track better for you!

oh life

Wow, I have been a terrible terrible blogger.  I read a blog recently that said "I have been so busy thinking that I haven't had time for writing" and I think that sums up my life!  I have been quite busy with school and plans and things that I come home still thinking about it.  By the time I am settled I want to go to bed and not type!  But alas here I am trying to sum up the past month for you.....  Wow it has been over a month. I am so sorry.  Well lets be generic and hopefully I can post specifics on some things that we have done.

School has been very busy.  We just wrapped up our first quarter meaning work days, report cards, parent-teacher conferences and so forth were the forefront of my mind daily.  Now that is all over and thoughts of 'how can I make this quarter better' are all I can think about.  I guess that is the life of the teacher though.  Always trying to make things better or figure out the best way to do something.  I still have days that I am completely overwhelmed by the material I am supposed to teach and the utter disorganization of it all. In a couple weeks I am supposed to teach a 4 week unit on Thailand and I am terrified!! I know NOTHING about Thailand's history or anything else for that matter.  How am I supposed to fill minds with content when I know nothing!

The other thing that has been on my heart a lot with school is a certain student.  (I am being very transparent with you all today.... I guess thats what happens when you wake up at 6am on a holiday!)  I have a handful of new to CMIS students in my class and most of them have fit in swimmingly.  But one student has major issues and I struggle constantly with the best way to help her to learn and fit in with the class.  It breaks my heart to see her struggle through the materials but it even more breaks my heart the way the kids treat her.  I am trying to reach her but there are so many problems I do not know where to start.  She has become my little mission for the year! I lover her to death and have such high hopes for her.

Anywho, this week was holiday (break).  I really wanted to go somewhere but with our finances and Moe's soccer commitments we were here.  Plus since we havent had the chance to explore yet it was for the best.  Moe had his first game(s) as coach this week.  CMIS played in a tournament with 5 other teams from 4 other countries: Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong (they are their own country right?).  Anyway, it was an experience for Moe and he has learned a lot.  The team isnt that wonderful this year but it has been an experience ;)  They have played 6 games in the past 4 days.... In this heat, I think that is crazy!!

OH, the other thing I have not officially said on here....we got a NEW PUPPY!!!! Chico is his name.  He is a toy poodle/shih-tzu mix.  He is ADORABLE!!! He is also tiny.  He is the size of calf on a good day.  Chico definitely has been a joy.  Moe and I have loved teaching him tricks and he is one smart puppy.  We are attempting to make him bilingual with a few tricks done in Thai :)  Here is a picture of him though it is hard to truly see him!  He is black with a white chest and strands of white on his forehead.  His paws are white as well.  He is also a cuddler and loves to be held... I might be spoiling him in that but he is so small.

Ok hopefully I will get better at sharing things. I do have a few important things that we did lined up to share!  We went to the Night Safari and I went up the mountain to the temple.  Both were incredible!  

Update and video of driving :)

We have had a long and busy week!  I got a lot done at school and finally reorganized my desk space.  I feel much better about it and more organized!! My students are definitely in routine and letting their true personalities shine ;) I am very happy with how things are progressing though.  I am being adventurous in my classroom while still trying to have fun and maintain learning.  I feel so honored to be where I am.  The staff is so kind and supportive.  I definitely feel right where I am supposed to be!

This weekend I really wanted to do something adventurous but we are watching our money and what not so Moe was against it! We did finally go shopping with a car again and got a trash can and an ironing board!  Sunday we decided to go to Airport Plaza and shop around a little.  It was a beautiful day so on the way home I decided to record a video.  If you watch this please, please, please, watch with the sound OFF.  It was way louder and windier than I imagined.  At the stop light you might want to listen to what I say but that is up to you.  This is only the second half of the trip but still interesting.  In it you can see an outdoor fruit market, the river, a temple, crazy driving, and much more!  (I have been having trouble uploading it to the blog, if it doesnt work you can watch the video here on my facebook.

Also this week, I went to the Ministry of Finance Office or something like that to apply for my work visa.  The school is super super helpful.  They took a van of 12 of us, led us to the place we were supposed to go, asked all the questions for us, called us up to sign 1 paper, then finished everything else for us.  I literally only showed up and signed my name.  I have no idea what I signed or what else the lady did.  It is one of the amazing and scary things about CMIS.  They have people who do everything for us.  We sign where they say and trust that whatever we are signing is legitimate and needed.  Anyway, the building we went to was GORGEOUS and it was HUGE. I didnt have my camera to take a picture but trust me!

Moe has been looking all day every day for a new puppy.  We might be making progress and have more to report on that soon too.  Also, we got a maid.  She comes from another teacher at school because she needed more hours.  She is here 2 days a week and is a miracle worker.  We are so blessed and Moe and I get along much better without arguing over who is doing the dishes ;)

Well I think that wraps up our week. I will try to be more diligent about this.....try.  Love you all. Hope all is well.

Sad news and good news

Things have been so crazy around here.  It has literally been one thing after the next.  But we are focusing on the good.

Yesterday, Suzy had a really rough day and seemed to be getting worse as the day went on.  We assumed that it was because she had been so sick and was just overwhelmed.  Unfortunately, she passed on during the night.  Moe and I were both very, very sad.  We buried her in the back by the river and shared one last moment together.  It is sad not having her presence around anymore and hearing her little whimpers.  We only had her a week but she definitely left her mark. She is and will be greatly missed.

In effort to not dwell on the situation much, we had a very busy day. We went to the grocery near by, Tesco Lotus which is similar to Walmart but a little smaller, with friends and got a bunch of things for our house.  We finally got a drying rack to dry our clothes and a bookcase to put by the door for our things.  We got cleaning supplies and some groceries.  We are finally settling in to the house and it now looks like people eat here as well as sleep here!  While we were out I treated myself to some Dunkin' Donuts and it was lovely! Overall a productive trip to the grocery.

This evening we went out to our friends house for dinner.  It was a wonderful time.  They grilled for us.  We had corn on the cob, green beans, bread, marinated pork tenderloin things, chicken wings, and yellow curry.  The spread was magnificent.  It was good to be away from the house and sharing life with others.

In between the grocery and dinner I ran to the market store place with Julie to buy "treasure box" items for my kids.  I was expecting like a Dollar Store type place. She had told me there were toys and things that were really cheap.  I was blown away! The store was a hole in the wall that had bulk of EVERYTHING.  For example they had these invisible pens.  Each pen is 10 baht but you have to buy the whole pack of 12.

Every item came like this.  The price per item was at the top and there were generally 12 items per package. This is silly puddy with fun things inside like hands or eye balls!  They are 5 baht each.

These things are so cool.  They are Iphones!! Ha. They are Iphone shaped water games.  Remember those games that have water and balls inside and you push the buttons to push the balls around.  Well thats what these do but are shaped like Iphones.  SO COOL!

I bought 12 packages like this.  I spent 1,050 baht which sounds like a lot, but the kids are helping me pay!  But look at this:  I got 144 items.  That is 7 baht per item.  That is $.23 per item!!!!! That would NEVER happen in the States.  I am so so so so so so so so so pumped.  This amount of things will probably last me the whole year.  I almost wish it didnt so I could go back and find more awesome things.  

All in all it was a good day.  It started very rough but again we are focusing on the good.  We are continuing to set up house.  I have found some amazing deals for things for my classroom.  We have spent wonderful time with friends.  We are so blessed to be here and take on each new challenge as they come.  

Quick update and address

Hey all.  School has started and been wonderful.  I have a total of 17 kids.... thinking I was going to only have 14 means I have a LOT of students.  It is crazy how much room 3 kids take up! My classroom feel cozy even though there are still a few things I wish I could change. But I will try to wait until October break for those things.  A couple noteworthy things about school.  Each morning the kids come to school and have morning recess.  A bell rings and all the kids line up. I go down and pick up my kids and have about 3 minutes to get upstairs before the National Anthem starts playing over the loud speakers.  Once it starts playing everyone must silence, stand, and be still (generally with hands to their sides).  This is protocol for everyone in the country. In addition to morning recess, the school has 2 more planned recess times with an additional time at lunch for those who finish early or what not.  PLUS the kids have 2 P.E. classes a week.... so they get plenty of play time!!  But after each recess time the kids in grades 3 and up all just run back to their classroom. No one lines up before going in or waits for everyone to be together.

Oh and recess duty.  I have 3 recess duties which is fine since their are so many recesses! I took my whistle out the first time and asked Deyla if I needed it. She simply smiled, somewhat chuckled, and said "No." Recess duty means make sure no one dies. I have been given few other rules to go off of and have trusted that the kids know what they are supposed to do! It is so different here.

Anyway, I LOVE having such a diverse group of students. I have 2 born in America although one is a first gen. American.  I have 2 Australians (and I love their accents!!) I have 6 Koreans and 7 that were born in Thailand. It is so fun to learn about their culture and upbringings and everything.

We have played lots of games and done lots of projects and crafts together.  We have had lots of fun and seem to be getting along nicely.  I am very excited about this year.  I am still nervous about the planning and organizing that still needs done but am trying to stay positive.

Well that is all for now. I will share more tomorrow. I promise this time! We are now going to look at a few houses.  I am sure Moe will post pictures.  Hopefully we can get this whole housing thing figured out soon too!  Hope you all are doing well.

Oh and I finally got an address. If you need/want to send us something, it is best to send it to the school. This is what most teachers/staff do!  The address is so simple it is crazy

Brittany Knechtel
Chiang Mai International School
P.O. Box 38
Chiang Mai, Thailand 50000

(If you dont want to include CMIS, apparently you dont have to!)

Love you all. Enjoy.

Summary Post

Here I am again apologizing for not posting in sooooooooooooooooooooo long.  I really need to get Moe to do this so that he can keep up with it. Between work, finding a house, Thai cultural training, and everything else we have going on I AM BUSY!  Every day I have come home pooped but with more work to be done.  It has been fun, challenging, intriguing, and most definitely a learning experience.  

Since it has been so long I will share some high points of our adventures.

Moe and I have gotten very adventurous with our transportation.  We rode together on the motorbike to dinner one night.  After dinner we rode to Rimping the grocery store and bought some more water and a few items.  We put the 6 pack of water in the basket and I held onto a bag.  We felt and looked very Thai!! (However they normally have like 10 packs of water plus 10 bags.  It is very very impressive how much they can carry on a motorbike!)
We also have used songtheaws and tuk-tuks on our own successfully now.  It has been fun and we feel much more capable and comfortable using public transportation.  We walked to a popular spot close by and got a tuk-tuk to take us to Burger King one night for dinner.  It was lovely to have fast food even though it wasn't that fast, but yes it tasted exactly the same!  Another night we walked to the same area and got a songtheaw to take us to Big C Extra, the Walmart comparable store.  Moe was able to barter with the driver to get the price where we wanted it! Here is a picture of me riding.

At the exit of Big C Extra there is a line of songtheaws waiting to take people home.  We had a cart full and were looking around.  A driver, who looked to be in charge, came up to us, spoke in English and asked where we wanted to go.  When we responded CMIS, he was shocked. He said that he has worked their doing maintenance for 10 years and knew right where it was (most people have no clue!).  He then made sure his other driver knew where to go.  The other guy offered a price of 120 baht.  Moe declined and asked for a better price, 60 baht.  The guy offered 100.  The guy speaking to us in English said that we should take the 100 because it was a good price.  Only the drivers on the street can do cheaper because they can pick up more people and go on bigger routes.  It was quite nice of him to share with us and help us be informed.  We took the price and got home safely and quickly.

Another thing I have been busily working on is my classroom.  Moe has been helping me when possible and been wonderful.  Here is the progress we have made so far from one viewpoint.  I will hopefully get my class list tomorrow to begin being more productive!

Last Thursday and Friday were holidays.  Something related to Thai Buddhist events and what not.  (Its too difficult to explain on here though very interesting.)  Anyway, we got to go into a temple on one day.  We were hoping a little more would be going on but we got to see the prayer room, library, and something else I cant remember.  It was quite fascinating.  Everyone was very welcoming and kind.  

Inside temple during prayer time

Something about gate leading up to heavens...

 I probably should have paid more attention but we have gotten so much information it is hard to keep it all straight.  

I know this is a lot of stuff but I have one last thing.  I will save my other big thing for tomorrow... hopefully I can post two days in a ROW!! Although we have not yet found a place of our own we will at some point this week be moving out of this small hotel style room.  A fellow co-worker who grew up here has been house sitting for her parents while they are in America.  They were supposed to come back last month but delayed their arrival until August 30.  She promised someone else that she would move into her new place by... well now.  So we will be house sitting for her at her parents house until they get back.  They have a dog, named Oreo, a maid and most importantly a KITCHEN! It will be nice to be able to cook soon.  We just need to get all our stuff packed and moved.  Good thing we only have 4 suitcases...well sorta.  

Well that is all. I think that covers most of what we have done recently.  We miss you all. We would love to hear updates from you.  While I love writing to you all, I hate always talking about what we are doing :)  We love you and want to stay knowledgeable about your lives as well.  Please email or facebook or skype us whenever you wish.  We are still working on figuring out an address for anyone who said they wanted it.  We will let you know as soon as possible.  Love you all.  Sa-wat-dee-kaa.  ('Goodbye' from Brittany)

p.s. hope this makes sense as I am so tired I did not re-read/check it! :)  Mai-pen-rai = doesn't matter.... very much theThai way!

Teacher freebies

         I have had a wonderful revelation.  The network for teachers is unbelievable.  The past couple months I have been perusing the blog world, pinterest, teacherspayteachers store, and all sorts of other avenues.  Now that I officially (well almost) have my own classroom, the hunt for things has been much more serious.  And to make it even better there are sooooo many free things!! I love finding things that are FREE.

          I have been stocking up on spelling activities, math activities, labels, borders, free desgins, all sorts of things for my classroom.  I only spent money on ONE thing.  Which I think is pretty impressive.  I bought the owl themed classroom from Middle Grades Maven.  However, it was on sale!  It has soo many things in it.  I cant wait to use it.  I cant wait to use all of the things that I got, especially this poster.  

          I am going to have to reorganize my computer files.  It is time to get rid of all of my college nonsense and  get ready for teachery things galore!  (really teachery is not a word.  Its about time to update that one dictionary :)) All of the stuff I have already gotten, I cant imagine what my files will look like in the years to come.
          The other thing that I have been thinking about A LoT is what my classroom will look like in Thailand.  I have only really seen a few pictures from other teachers or on the schools website.  I am very intrigued.  I have been told of some things that I wont be able to get while in Thailand such as bulletin board borders and wall calendars, so I am stocking up on those things.  I also think I am going to take a few things that I know I want to use, just in case they dont have them there.  Plus I will be taking some of my gifts that I got earlier in the year for sentimental reasons :)
          Anyway, finding all sorts of things for free has made me even more excited to be a teacher.  I cant wait to get in my classroom and get things started. Not to mention how excited I am to meet my new class and begin this new adventure.  August 14th (the first day of school) is not that far away, only two short months!

official changes!!

Well it’s official.  Hubby and I are moving and starting a brand new adventure.  We are leaving everything behind, trusting God and the plan that he has laid before us.  There is still a lot to be figured out but Moe and I are excited to begin this new journey.  We will be leaving the week of July 18^th for a period of two years.

I was offered and have accepted a 4^th grade teaching position at Chiang Mai International School (CMIS), in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  I am so excited and nervous to have my own classroom. Moe will potentially be going to grad school there which would be awesome for him!! He could also tutor or do many other things. 

Since it’s an international school the kids all know English and I will be teaching in English.  It is also my understanding that most of the community knows some English as well, although the school will be providing us some Thai lessons. The school will help with housing, food, language, and other transitional things.  It will be quite the journey.

We will have internet and what not so facebook and skype are still available but for most updates about events and pictures and things follow this blog!!! 

Again we are both very excited about this adventure.  We covet your prayers as we get everything organized and planned. We would love to see as many people as possible before we leave so please contact us if you want to get together!!