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| My favorite meal at Boopathy's place is dinner.... I think it's the bread. I love bread in the first place, so having a different kind of fresh bread each night.... delightful! |
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| It's early morning on Holhudhoo Island..... I haven't had my cup of hot instant coffee yet, so I can not be held responsible for how I look..... okay? |
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| Early morning on Holhudhoo ..... the island is just waking up. |
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| The early bird catches the fish..... |
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| A crow in search of breakfast... |
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| The hermit crabs have been busy all night.... their tracks create a neat sand painting! |
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| Child's play. |
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| As I walk along the beach, I find old shells..... and I think to myself.... how long does it take the sea to create such works of art out of a shell? |
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| Old shells and old bits of corral.... the sea creating new art forms. |
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| Breakfast time...... Bon Appetit! Another tasty meal by Chef Boopathy! Boopathy is an chemistry teacher at Meynaa School. He prepares three meals a day for himself and a small group of other expat Indians who work on the island of Holhudhoo. I joined the group a couple of weeks ago, so have been enjoying homemade Indian food each day. Boopathy is an excellent cook! Every meal is different! Every meal is so tasty! Any guess as to what the above breakfast consisted of (other than tomato and onion)? |
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| The seedlings, each in their own individual plastic container, are ready to be placed in the hydroponic tray. This is a type of pilot project funded by UNDP. A deal of research has gone into the style and construction of the hydroponic units, the types of vegetables that can be grown in the Maldives given the high humidity, as well as the mixture of nutrients needed to help the plants grow. |
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| One-by-one, the individual plants are placed in the round holes in the trays. Water is slowly pumped through these trays. The moving water helps the plants grow faster. |
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| All the holes are filled..... only thing left is for the plants to grow and produce vegetables for the family. |
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| Special nutrients are mixed together in water, then added to the water tank that feeds the individual family hydroponics unit. |
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| The netting is dropped around the hydroponics unit. Now all that is needed is time, water and the sun to help the plants grow and produce food for the island. |
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| You gotta hit the beach dude!!! |
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| Wax your board.... surf's up! |
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| Caught it... and riding it in..... |
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| Hanging out... waiting for the big one.... |
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| Cool man..... really cool..... |
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| Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! |
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| Wipe out......... |
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| Catching the last big wave of the day... |
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| Before the sun sets and night falls over the sea... |
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| I am surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers of the most exquisitely beautiful blue turquois water you can ever imagine! |
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| And do you know what? I don't even like to swim! Weird huh....... |
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| Well, you see it's like this. First you put some wet sand into an old coconut shell. You know... half a shell. Then.. |
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| You get your hand around the top of the sand ball.... and gently pull upward.... |
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| You pat it together with both of your hands, and now you're ready to ...... well, throw it at someone! Look out Mr. T..... you're well within my throwing range.... |
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| I'm not sure...... |
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| Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... |
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| Let me take a minute to think about that... |
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| Cheeeeeeeeese... |
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| I want to grow up to be a doctor! |
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| Recently, I gave up wearing my hat..... in exchange for the shade provided by.... |
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| My new bright red umbrella! |
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| Now this change did not come about because of the rain.... since the rains had not yet started when I actually bought the umbrella..... rather... I got the umbrella for... |
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| The sun! An umbrella I've learned, provides a lot more shade than a hat. Added bonus, the umbrella does not mess up my hair by disturbing the gel I now use. But then.... I'm not a vain person, so who cares! |
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| Proximity is an easy classroom management tool to use.... by moving throughout the classroom, the teacher can monitor learning, check for understanding, and bring students back on task if need be. |
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| This workshop on assessment was one of the first sessions I held with the teachers. It was intense, fast paced, with lots of activities. |
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| Assessment: it is a process, done over time, to collect information to improve student learning. First I created a three part Graphic Organizer on the board to explain the three types of assessment: diagnostic, formative and summative. |
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| Diagnostic Assessment When: before instruction What: to find out what the child already knows. Why: to plan next steps Examples: pre-test, IQ test |
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| Formative Assessment When: during instruction What: part of the classroom routine Why: to help with lesson planning Examples: quiz, homework, review games, lab work |
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| Summative Assessment When: at the end of instruction What: information on student learning over time Why: to provide feedback to student, parents, teacher and administration. Examples: term exams, Cambridge exams |
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| Following my direct instruction on the three types of assessment, I introduced Graphic Organizers to the teachers. First I used a "Bubble Map" to demonstrate how to use the Graphic Organizer to describe Diagnostic Assessment. Next, I divided the class into two, and asked half of the class to now create their own "Bubble Map" Graphic Organizer to describe formative assessment, and the other half of the room to do the same, but for summative assessment. When the timer buzzed, I randomly called on a teachers to come to the board and complete one "Bubble Map" for formative assessment and explain it to the whole group, and one to do the same for summative assessment. |
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| To bring a little levity to this rather heavy topic, I placed on each of the four walls, one of the above symbols: clouds, balance, kite and dart. I instructed the teachers, when I gave the okay to get up, to move to the symbol that in some way attracted them, or that they related to. Once teachers grouped around a symbol I asked them to talk about what it was that brought them there. Only after this, did I tell them this is a diagnostic communication styles assessment. Cloud: relationship oriented Dart: only the facts, straight to the point Kite: moving all over the place brainstorming ideas Balance: collecting ideas to make a decision |
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| To assess if the teachers really understood the three types of assessment, I passed out pieces of paper with a type of assessment (or combinations of assessments) written on them. In small groups, teachers were asked to draw a picture of the assessment written on the paper they received..... BUT... they could only use pictures! They could not use any written words in their picture.... |
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| That's me in this summative assessment drawing! |
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| Can you guess which of the three types of assessment this one is showing? |
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| Diagnostic assessment..... and so proud of it! |
