Fortaleza!!! Yes, I am in Brazil!

Check this video to see what Brazilian teachers are experiencing in the USA! Join us!

July 15 - WoooooooHooooooo!!! I am in Fortaleza! I got here last Sunday morning and couldn’t believe how hot it was. It is winter and it was about 90 degrees F / 30 C. I LOVE IT!

Thank you VIF for inviting and sponsoring my trip to Brazil. It has been a wonderful experience here working with Mara Carazo at the VIF Booth. It is great to share my experience here with the Brazilian teachers, meet new people and old pals.

Take a look at these pics! Some views from the Fortaleza Othon Palace, where I am staying, and other pics from the Braz Tesol convention!

Summer Hits!!

These songs are playing all the time on the radios and are the hits of the summer so far! As I listen to nice ones I will add here for you!

Speaking of summer, these pics were taken at the LARGEST SUMMERFEST OF THE WORLD, which is in Milwaukee - Wisconsin. I went there last Sunday and was surprised with that huge place. There were 11 stages and lots of msic and everything going on at the lakefront (LAKE MICHIGAN)!

The skyglide was one of the most interesting things I saw and did there. You pay $3.00 and you can fly all over the festival from one side to the other. The view was awesome and it was a great break for my feet!!

http://www.summerfest.com/flash/

Check them out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv0Kxu7ZqxI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzxR8OH-fDQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QytPoRLEhF0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJDF9uyDWH4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM73enMTVa0

RED, WHITE AND BLUE = 4th of July

That is another amazing experience I lived here. The INDEPENDENCE DAY celebration is something really big here. People decorate their houses with the American’s flag colors , and make big cookouts all day long. At night they end their particular patriot way to express their passion for the country with lots of fireworks. Some houses at night looked as if they had been decorated for Christmas so colorful they were,

Check these links to learn more about it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

June 29 - WooooooooooHoooooooooooooooooo!! 11 MONTHS IN THE USA!!!

The experience has been wonderful!!!
It is summer time and the temperature it is getting hotter and hotter…

The great news at this time is that I am going to Brazil on July 12 to work at BRAZ TESOL in Fortaleza with VIF. I will also go to Brasilia to renew my VISA and SEE MY FAMILY!
I am counting the days!
The best of this month was the end of the school year followed by the trip to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
I know there is much more to come and I am eager to learn more and more. I also attended the CMS SUMMER CONFERENCE for a week and it was awesome to be part of that and learn about the new trend in education that is called “Differentiation”.
Have a good one!

June 14-17 - Trip to Las Vegas and Los Angeles!!!

 

I thought that New York was the craziest city in the USA due to the variety of things we can do there. However, now that I have been to Las Vegas my opinion has changed. Vegas is the craziest place I have ever been to. You know I have been to places like Paris, Venice, Switzerland, London, Munich, Amsterdan, Argentina, Peru and others and they are all fantastic. But, the crazy thing about Vegas is that it has a sample of each of these places. All the hotels are thematic so you feel as if you were in a different country every block you walk. Las Vegas is a wonderful and exciting city , besides the noise of the cassinos in every single corner that makes you keep walking and doing things. It is definitely a 24/7 city!

 On the way to California = Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Holywood and Santa Monica  through the Mojave  Desert. Amazing!!

I still can’t believe I was there!!!

JUNE!!!!

June 10- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

Unbelievable! 180 DAYS HAVE PASSED ALREADY!

I felt like crying when I saw the kids saying “HAVE A NICE SUMMER” and “SEE YOU NEXT YEAR”!

This difference  in season and school calendar is still striking, but I learned a lot a will never forget this day!

June 7 - Bowling in the USA!! MY DREAM!!!

June 6 - Students’ award cerimony at school!

June 4 - Broadway Show - JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR!!

Nice show! After that, a couple of beers at ATTIC pub across from Belk Theater in Charlotte.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ_Superstar

June 5
Journey to Success: New Teacher Induction
University Meadows Elementary School and UNC Charlotte

During this year at our school, new teachers met with Dr. Frazier, teacher trainer from University of North Carolina in Charlotte. We meet the first Wednesday of every month starting in September in the Media Center.

The goal of the meetings was to discuss many topics such as Classroom Management, Differentiation, Stress Management, and Surviving the Last Weeks of School among many others. All the scheduled topics were based on the standards for the INTASC evaluation.

It was a great opportunity to get to know the other teachers and to share our understandings on these topics as well as to learn more from each other’s experiences. Great breakfasts were always provided by the school and in addition after every training we received nice treats from Dr. Frazier.

I would like to thank UNCC for this opportunity of taking part of this training here at school, Dr. Frazier for sharing her learning and expertise with us and the school for providing the assistants and substitute teachers for the days of the meetings, and again UNCC and Dr. Frazier for the wonderful breakfast at Shoney’s ( check http://www.shoneys.com/ ) and for the certificate of completion of the course.

These meetings were of great importance for me and a wonderful professional development opportunity that helped me to enhance my career as an ESL teacher.

June 1 - We are on the countdown for the end of school year! Classes are going to be over on the 10 and the last day for the teachers is  June 13.

Everybody is looking forward to the change of the season too. Summer is just around the corner. Yesterday temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius. As the weather here is very  different from Brazil, so if it is cold , it is really cold and for the hot one it is not different. It gets VERY HOT here!!!!! I LOVE IT!

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Sharing good news!

I just got this certificate and I am very proud of this achievement. This is about the CULTURAL AMBASSADOR PROGRAM - CAP.  I sent 19 cultural activities about Brazil that I did with my students and school community. I also got a $50.00 rewards check from VIF.

THANK YOU VIF!

 

MAY!!!!!!

May 9, 2008

Unlike Brazil, that celebrates Teacher’s Day on October 15 this week in North Carolina, happens the TEACHER’S APPRECIATION WEEK from May 5-9

We have had lunch and ice cream besides the daily love of our students. I don’t know if it’s the same in all states, but we are having a wonderful time this week.

Students and all the staff are very excited for the end of the school year. Last day of classes is June 10, so we are on the countdown now.

From May 19-23 we are going to have the EOG - End Of Grade tests for the third, fourth and fifth grades. It is a test that is required by the state and all the schools are getting ready to work on it.

As a break after the tests, we are going to have a holiday on May 26. It is celebrated the MEMORIAL DAY and is a big celebration here in the USA.

After the holiday we are going to have FIELD DAYS here at school. During the whole week we are going to have outdoor activities with all the students. I am really looking forward to that because this is going to be something new for me.

Tonight I am going to a HOT AIR BALLON GLOW!! It is another dream that will come true. It is so American and it was in all the course books that I taught in Brazil.

May 10

As I posted here, I went to see the hot air balloon glow at Village Fest at Cannon Village in Kannapolis-NC. The weather was not favorable for this activity, so only this morning they could have the glow and rally, which started at 7 am.

It is really cool to see how fast they get into the air. One day I want to be in a hot air balloon.

Taking the chance that I was in the area, I visited Cannon Village Visitor’s Center. It is a neat place and tells the story of the city and a mill that existed in thea area many years ago.

Enjoy the pictures and have a nice weekend!

 May 17 - ALL STARS RACE @ Lowes Motors Speedway

The day was wonderful! The weather did look like what we have in Brazil. We TAILGATED! 

TAILGATE is the expression used to describe the gathering of the people in small groups with friends and family before a game, concert, match, whatever. People grill barbecue, play games, drink and ave a lot of fun!

We had our opportunity and it was unforgettable! Check the pics!

May 22 - SPEED STREET uptown Charlotte. It wasa great event organized by all the race cars’ sponsors. There were concerts of many singers inlcuding the country stars Danielle Peck and Gary Allan.

 May 23- DIRT TRACK RACE!! That is it! The cars race at a wet track and they run at 145mph! I WAS THERE!!!

May 25 - UNBELIEVABLE!! the weather today was FANTASTIC!!

May 26- MEMORIAL DAY

Today is holiday here in the USA. Check this link to learn more about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

May 27-30 Field Days at my school!

Field days are outdoor activities for all students.  On Tuesday we had the opening cerimony in which each class represented a country to express the diverse community of 43 nations that we have at University Meadows. There was one speaker from each group and two other students to hold the flag in the parade around the field track. After that, the teachers led a warm up by playing tug war, hola hoop and water balloon games. The students got fired up by cheering for their teachers. Then, we started the activities with the third grade students. On Wednesday we had the fourth grade in the morning and second in the afternoon. Yesterday we had the kindergarden and first grade and today the activities are for the fifth grade students. There were 6 stations and three different games in each. Students had a lot of fun and we did too! The event is organized by the PE Teachers.

Check the pics!

May 27 - BROADWAY - TWELVE ANGRY MAN

May 29 - 10 MONTHS IN THE USA!!

To celebrate it, I went to JAMES TAYLOR’S concert!!

APRIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More pics of TESOL IN NEW YORK

at http://public.fotki.com/AmaralPatricia/tesol-em-nova-iorque/

April 29 - 9 MONTHS IN THE USA!!!

Hello everybody!!

The dream was born! I am here in the USA living the experience of a lifetime.

When I remember that last year at this time I was in my house in Brazil thinking about what life would be like here in the USA…

Well. It is true. I am here and every day I learn something new.

Now check the highlights for this month:

Tornado!!

That is it! Along with the beautiful and sunny spring days, comes the tornadoes season. Strong thunderstorms, lightning and winds blow really hard.

Yesterday we had a tornado warning in the area of Mecklemburg county, where the school I work is .As a result, we had to move all the kids to a save place and have them sat on safe position in order not to get hurt in case of a hit at the school.

Check the link for this info:

http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/includes/gfi.asp?fileHandle=5296.asp

Talking about links, here are some links that you can visit and know more about the school and county that I work:

 http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/

http://pages.cms.k12.nc.us/pldavis/

http://pages.cms.k12.nc.us/univmead/

 

 

 Volunteers

There was a brunch for the volunteers at our school. Many community members, parents and college students volunteer to help in many classes here at University Meadows.

Sports

This month was all about baseball. There are games are on TV everyday and they make big celebrations with fireworks at the stadiums.

About next month, I am looking forward to learning about and living these events:

 Cinco de maio

This is a big celebration here in the USA. Check this website to learn more about it. http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htmNASCAR RACES

JAMES TAYLOR’S CONCERT

BROADWAY - 12 ANGRY MEN

Have a good one!

April 27- The weather is getting close to what we have in Brazil. Yesterday we had  a 28 degree sunny day! It was awesome.However, at night we had a strong thunderstorm with wind reaching 60 mph in some areas.

This is something completely different from Brazil. At home, I never paid attention to the weather forecast , but here  we just don’t live home without checking it. When we have severe weather the tv sends a warning sound like a siren.

Well, living the weather changes in the USA.

 HAVE A GOOD ONE!

April 19 - VIF PICNIC AT JORDAN LAKE - APEX - NC

It was a great opportunity to have the BRAZILIAN FAMILY together again!

We had a nice time there and could also touch base with the other VIF teachers who we met at the orientation! Check the pictures!

 

April 1st- Fool’s Day!

 Yes! I am packing to go to New York to attend TESOL!! Woooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooo, my dream is about to become true and it is not a joke!!!!

Check the website of the convention!

http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/seccss.asp?CID=1518&DID=8281

From April 2 to 6 I am going to be in NEW YORK and I will keep you updated from there!

Have a good one!

TESOL IN NEW YORK!!

It is a big event! There are more than 8,000 teachers attending this convention, 60 sessions happening at the same time and 1200 presenters. Isn’t it huge???

So, how do you think we feel as a first-timer in a TESOL???

Yes, you are right!! I felt completely overwhelmed with so much to do at the same time …

March

 March 31 -BB KING’s concert at Belk Theater! I was there!!!!

March 29 - 8 months in the USA!!

Let’s see how far we’ve come!!

This is the new song from Matchbox 20 and is my motto here = HOW FAR WE’VE COME!

March 21 - GLOBETROTTERS IN CHARLOTTE!!

 

At night - CONCORD SPEEDWAY PARK!! The race season is on its way!

March 20-Easter - Can you believe that here in NC is not holiday on the GOOD FRIDAY??

Religious reasons in te USA…

I am going to work this Friday. My grandma most be shaking in her coffin because this is a very religous day for my famliy and not for the most traditional members not even sweep the floor we were allowed too.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,

THEY DON’T HAVE EASTER EGGS AS WE HAVE IN BRAZIL!!! sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff

The most likely one  that I found here is the Ferrero Rochero in that plastic egg shape!!

I WANT A TALENTO/ CROCANTE EASTER EGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I can’t complain!! Here we can find CHOCOLATE from all over the world and my seconf favorite after HERSHEYS is LINDT!! Hummmmmmmm…..

HAPPY EASTER!

Look what I got today!! Isn’t it cute?

March 20 - SPRING starts today!!

I am fed up with this cold weather! It is amazing to see green trees and flowers again, but it is still a bit cold with temperatures about 18 degrees Celsius.

March 17 - St. Patrick’s Day

I went on a FIELD TRIP to Discovery Place with the 1st grade teachers and kids! It was my first time on a SCHOOL BUS!

March 14-Saint Patrick’s Day Parade

 It is a BIG CELEBRATION HERE!

Check the pics of St. Patrick’s Parade we went to last Saturday!

 

March 1 - Brazilian meeting at  VIF WINTER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE in Greensboro- NC

7 Months in the USA!!!

 

 

Well, living and learning is my motto here. Last week I went to a grocery store to buy some food and some drinks too. I spent about 30 minutes choosing some bottles of wine and then some other time shopping for food. When it was my turn at the checkout, GUESS WHAT? I couldn’t buy the wine because alcoholic beverages are only sold after midday on Sunday. LIVING AND LEARNING…

 

This month was great but I have to confess that I really missed CARNIVAL IN BRAZIL. I checked daily on the Internet and with form family and friends. I felt like I needed that energy. Here in the US they have a big celebration in New Orleans, so I am going to plan to be there next year.

 

I went to a Broadway show called STOMP. It was simply amazing to celebrate my 7 month there.

Next month we have EASTER and Saint Patrick’s Day. Can you believe that here there is normal class on HOLY FRIDAY. That is it. Well at least, March 24 is going to be SPRING HOLIDAY, which means we are going to have a long weekend.

 

Ooops, I almost forgot to mention VALENTINE’S DAY! It was a wonderful celebration and it was great to be here to live this tradition. I got presents from friends, teachers and students.

 

The trip to Charleston was simply AWESOME! I never thought that one day I was going to be inside a warship. It was unbelievable. Did you see the pictures I posted about it? Take a look and see what I am talking about.

 

HAVE A GOOD ONE!