Going Global with GGG: An Interesting Week! Many Fighting Sickness! RAT Mystery Reader Fun! Student-Led Conferences!

A very interesting week! The weather started to warm up some which helped, but there were still many students, teachers and staff fighting off the Flu and other sicknesses. I was off school on Monday and Tuesday because of Type B Influenza. On Tuesday afternoon I returned to my friend, Dr. Kim, who cleared me to return to school on Wednesday. It was good to be back, but I probably over did the use of my voice by doing some subbing for our Music teacher (which I really enjoy doing) and reading two stories back to back in two second grade classrooms for the RAT Mystery Reader Day. I woke up Thursday morning with no voice and continued coughing + some aches/pains in my knees, back and left ankle. By Friday morning the aches were all gone but I continued coughing. I didn't feel bad except that I cough more when I talk and I enjoy talking. :-) So on Friday I returned to Dr. Kim and he said that I have my usual acute bronchitis so he administered some medications to help bring relief. The ache/pain in my left ankle is probably Gout. I get it in my big toe on my left foot from time to time so I guess I will have to be ready for it now in my left ankle. Thanks for your prayers. Praying that the cough goes away real soon.

As I indicated earlier, Wednesday was Mystery Reader Day in the elementary school for the Read-A-Thon. I love reading books to all ages, and especially to children. I was invited to Grade 2A and 2B and I shared to books with them. One of them was A Big Guy Took My Ball by one of my favorite authors, Mo Willems. He creates such funny stories with great illustrations in all of his books! The kids loved it! I also read Flossie and the Fox by Patricia McKissack. The kids always have some great interaction and great questions as I read and Wednesday they were full of life! I love these special times of interaction with the kids! Oh, after the first week of reading in our three weeks of reading for RAT, the elementary kids had almost 191,000 minutes. Their goals is 555,555 minutes and if they keep this pace, they will make it. My head is starting to prepare for another shaving!

Here I am beginning the Mo Willems' book with the

students in Grade 2A.

Continuing my reading with Grade 2A!

They loved when I read this page!!

You can see some of the Grade 2B students' expressions

in this picture as I read to them from Mo Willems' book!

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Thursday I began working more diligently on preparations for the After School Activities for Quarter Four. This is always a major undertaking and it is always a challenge to find a space for each of the activities to meet. There may be as many as 33 activities this coming quarter! Such fun! I would appreciate your prayers.

It was also French Food Day in the cafeteria. J & J Catering, the company that is in charge of our meals in the cafeteria likes to introduce different foods from different countries at various times throughout the year. Thursday it was French food. They did a good job and the food was tasty; not sure how authentically prepared it was! :-)

Students get their French Food. J & J Manager in her

French costume serving the students.

J & J workers serving the French food while wearing French flag T-Shirts!

A sample of the French food! There was Quiche,

Coq au vin, and Ratatouille. Not sure the rice would

be part of a typical French meal. :-)

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It was also a day when teachers and staff were encouraged to vote for the semi-finalists for the PTO Community Art Project for our 2014-15 school calendar. There were 83 pieces of art submitted for the project from students in grades K to 12 and we have to narrow it down to about 12 - 18 pieces for the calendar. It was a difficult task, but fun! I have put some of my favorite ones here for you to see:

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Friday was the day for Student-Led Conferences with parents in the elementary school. It is one of my favorite days! I love going from classroom to classroom to observe students using their oral presentation skills to communicate with their parents. In the elementary school we have been working hard at teaching children how to communicate effectively using oral and written skills. I love observing parents show great pride in their children as the children share with their parents what they have been learning using a great variety of methods to do that. Teachers have done a great job in teaching their students and preparing them for this exciting day! I wish you all could observe what I have the privilege of experiencing at these student-led conferences. here are a few pictures from my classroom visits!

The above are pictures of some of the students leading their conferences with their parents! You can see a variety of different methods they were using to share what they have been learning!

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Below are several writings with silhouettes of various students in grade 3D. I thought they were really kind of cool! Parents really enjoyed seeing these!

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My friend and former SYME student, Jin Seok called me on Friday evening and then needed a place to stay overnight before he returns to Busan. He had just completed an interview for a position with the National Taxation Service of Korea. Please pray for my wonderful friend as he seeks to find a job where he can use his translation/interpretation skills to serve the Lord. Jin Seok is also suffering from a bad cold so I know he would also appreciate your prayers for his restored health. So great to see him and get to talk with him for a little bit while we both continued coughing! :-)

Saturday morning we went for brunch at Tartines and enjoyed a yummy breakfast and great conversation together!

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Saturday evening I had purchased tickets to a special concert at Super Stage in the Jamsil Sports Complex for a favorite quartet of singers called Il Divo. Yeongmin wanted to hear them so we both went to the concert. Before the concert we had a very delicious meal at a new restaurant for me in Seoul. It is called Daily Round and they prepare everything on their menu fresh. After a nice meal and great conversation, we headed to see and hear Il Divo. Their concert tour is titled A Musical Affair featuring some of the greatest songs from the world's favorite musicals. It was a very refreshing evening of food and music with my friend, Yeongmin. We continue to have excellent conversations and I continue to ask you to pray that he will come to know Jesus.

Here we are at the Daily Round preparing to eat our very tasty salads!

Above are our two salads. On the left is the Roasted Chicken with fresh fruit, almonds, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. On the right is the tomato and mozzarella salad. Both served with yummy homemade bread and an amazing homemade dressing!