A friend of mine convinced me that I should continue my blog, even though it's been forever since I last posted.  So, here we go.

This year we moved into a new school, Ahmed Bin Zayed, named after the son of Sheikh Zayed who died in a car accident.  Ahmed's son and two other "little sheiks/ sheikhas" are in the first grade.  First grade now has integrated boys and girls.  This is scheduled to happen next year in grade two, and then on to grade 3.  I'm not sure if it will ever make it to 5th grade or not.  This is a huge advancement!  No parents pulled their children out of the school.  In fact, every spot is filled and there is a waiting list.

My classroom is beautiful!  I have sinks and bulletin boards and storage and an interactive white board with a touch screen computer!  I even have internet, although most sites are blocked.  My girls are fabulous, and some are really close to being on grade level in English, which is quite amazing.   I wish the same was true in math!  I feel like the girls are WAY behind in math and science because frankly, 45 minutes a day for math is just not enough.  I will say that the other day a girl finally asked a question.  FINALLY!  We were working on adding fractions with like denominators.  One girl asked me, "What if they bottom is not the same?"  I nearly fell on the floor!  A real, thoughtful question!  So, we talked about how to make them have like denominators.

We are getting ready for a short trip to Oman for our spring break.  We will spend 2 days in Muscat and 1 night at Turtle Beach to see the turtles hatch.  Excited - pictures and post will follow. 

Zendala dare #44 by Bright Owl.

This dare uses the template by Erin Koetz Olson.  I used the following patterns to create this zentangle:
Kuzek, Nipa, Perk,Vega, and Fescu. 

Year of the Snake!

Here I used the patterns Fang, Trumpits, Starawn, Vega, Nekton, and Fescu.  It is supposed to be two snakes watching the fireworks for Chinese New Year.  My first attempt is in the trash - the snakes got lost in the background "noise" of the busy patterns I chose.  This seems a little better, but still not my best work.  

Bright Owl Challenge #43

This zendala was created with perk, dansk, nipa and a pattern I call peacock.

Zendala Dare #42

Using patterns:  fang, printemps, perk, and mist.

Zendala Dare #41

       Zendala #41 for the Zendala Dare 

Angerer Family (aka mom and dad) visit Al Ain

Last week mom and dad spent a week in Al Ain.  They wanted to experience our daily life, and I think they got their wish.  Pat took Dad to the grocery stores, and mom got a great visit at school with my girls.  I think the girls were as curious about mom as she was about them.  We also did some shopping at Al Ain Mall.  We had lunch at Applebee's  - hard to believe they opened one here in Al Ain just a week ago!
We took a day trip to Dubai and saw the Souk, Dubai Mall, and the Burj Khalifa.  They also took a day trip to Abu Dhabi to see the Grand Mosque with Shannon and Pat.  We ate at a few great restaurants and spent time doing simple things like laundry.  Amazing that it can dry in 30 minutes on the porch!   We had a great time . . . but it went by so quickly!!!