Greetings from Ebeye!  Of course, as I always say, there is so much to tell you about.  I'll just get right to the details.  SCHOOL IS GOING GREAT!!  The Kindergarteners are spelling machines, they are learning letter sounds, and are sight reading.  They are also learning simple addition concepts.  Mrs. Twyla and the teacher's aides are doing exceptionally well with the class.  I am looking forward to this year's Kindergarten graduation.  The First grade class is also doing very well.  They have been working on reading phonetically and are doing great.  They are telling time, learning math facts, and counting money.  They are also maturing and becoming responsible young people.  We are proud of them!  The Second grade class is developing as well.  They are learning Geometrical shapes, money concepts, sentence structure, nouns, verbs, family history, etc.  The Third grade class (my kiddies) are also doing very well.  We are a small class (15) but strong.  I can honestly say that each and every one of my students has shown remarkable progress over this school year.  Especially in the areas of Reading and English comprehension.  They are also developing socially.  I hardly ever have to remind them that we do not speak Marshallese in school because they all enjoy speaking English and try their best.  ALL IS WELL.

 

We recently celebrated Education Week.  We had an island wide spelling bee and our school did very well.  Each school was allowed to enter two spellers per grade level.  Our Kinder garten students won 1st and 2nd place, Our First graders won 1st and 3rd place, and our 3rd graders won 2nd and 3rd place.  This was very exciting for us.  Our Second grade students did very well also, but they did have some very challenging words.

 

Next week, my Third Grade class will take our very first standardized test.  The Marshall Islands Standardized Achievement Test (MISAT I) will be given to all 3rd, 6th, and 8th grade students in the Marshall Islands and will show whether or not our school meets the benchmark set by the Ministry of Education and how our school compares with all other schools in the country.  I am so excited about the test, but I'm also... umm...well, just really wanting them to do their best.  I am sure that they will and no matter what our scores, I will be very proud of them because they have been working so hard to prepare.

 

Let's see, what else?  Oh yeah, the end of the year is drawing near and the time will soon come for us to go home.  And this time, it is final.  Yes, I am saying that we will not be returning for the next school year.  Amy, Belinda and I will be going home at the end of the year and a whole new batch of teachers will come for the next school year.  I am sure that this will be a very wet goodbye for me and I am certain that I will never forget my experience here in the Marshall Islands and my students will always be with me (in my heart). 

 

Okay, enough of that, I don't want to start crying too early.  I'll be in touch soon (I really will) to update you on our test and more.  This weekend has been an awesome one and I'll tell you about it soon.

Thanks for listening.  Be a blessing!

Dana