Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Third grade finished off the year happy and full of sweets from our Christmas party! The whole school watched the movie The Nativity Story about the birth of Jesus. If you haven't seen it yet, go get it. It's an amazing visual reminder of all we have to be grateful for. We have a lot of catching up to do when we get back in January due to an unexpected trip for me and Hurricane Olga!

Outdoor Education Week- JUCUM

Day 3: The pond.

Outdoor Education Week- La Poza

Day 2: The river.

Outdoor Education Week- La Presa

This year for Outdoor Education Week 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades compared and contrasted lakes, rivers, and ponds. Day 1: The lake.

Measurement Madness!

We started our measurement unit in math! We measured the width of the room using our shoes. The kids discovered why standard units of measurement are necessary because everyone has a different sized foot! Afterwards, we practiced measuring things around the room using "Franchira-rulers". Franchira is in our class. We made rulers that are the length of her shoe. We had so much fun, we didn't even realize we were learning!

Ann Katherin

Ann Katherin came to Doulos this year after a year in Sosua (a beach town here) and before that from Germany , where she’s originally from. She speaks English fluently and her Spanish is not far behind. She’s very sweet and intelligent!

Yeik

Yeik (pronounced Jake) is a sweet, loving boy in my class. He knows so much from the Bible. He’s also a natural math whiz. This is his second year at Doulos. When he smiles he lights up everything around him. Yeik is amazing and I see so much potential.

Steady progress

My third graders are progressing steadily. Our biggest challenge this year is to love the people around us even if we don’t like them sometimes. It is something I have to constantly work on myself as an adult. I’m also trying to teach them to crave learning so they can use what they know to change their world. I gave them a very dramatic example of the people in our town that beg for money, many because they didn’t get the education they need to work. I think it has helped some of them take more responsibility for their learning.

We have 5 nationalities in our classroom this year. Most of my students are Dominican, one is from Canada , one from Puerto Rico, one from Germany , and I’m from the U.S. One day, we all took turns singing our national anthems. It was a spontaneous thing that ended up being a really good team-building activity.