Week One Is Done!

Of course, it's not really done...Monday and Tuesday will be workdays with the entire staff, and students start on Wednesday. That will be the real "first day!"

So what have we covered this week? How is it different from workdays in the states?

1. The PD sessions were relevant and meaningful to our teaching situation. Not to say there hasn't been meaningful, relevant PD in the states, but often it seems we attend meetings for the sake of the district saying we had meetings. Here, everything is designed to make the transition to an international school in Bangkok easier and to benefit teachers and students alike. Topics have included lessons on Thai language, Thai culture, teaching ELL students, and more. We were guided through the online resources for taking "registration" (attendance), student records, etc. This gave all of us the hands-on knowledge using our school laptops needed instead of being told to do it without those actual visuals.

2. Lunch. We have eaten in the cafeteria (excuse me, "canteen"...I must practice my British terms 😊) for lunch, discovering the wonderful food that will be available to us all year. Unlike the past 24 years of education, I will be eating school food....salad bar, soup station (Asian soups that have all been incredible), hot food with a variety of Thai and western options...and all seem to be healthier than what you think of when you hear "school food." Even better? Friday is ice cream day... LOL. Lunch is provided for teachers throughout the school year.

3. Everyone is incredibly helpful. Okay, this isn't really a difference with the states because I have always had great staff members at my schools who helped me a lot. But it has to be mentioned because from the security, canteen, housekeeping (not sure if that's the correct term), returning staff, new staff, and my library team, I feel part of the community from the start instead of feeling "new." It's an incredibly welcoming, friendly camaraderie.

The past two days have given me the opportunity to work with part of my team. I am looking forward to the entire team being together on Monday. GiGi, Toon, Roon, and Bank are so knowledgeable and nice! They are the library assistants, another difference from my last district: assistants are no longer in libraries there. On Monday I will meet Marivic, my Assistant Librarian. To round out our team this year is Sienna, my intern from the UK, whom I met on Skype this past spring, and a yet-to-be-hired assistant. Although we are displaced still, we will be able to move into the staff room conference area until the library is finished. We have a possible date of September 3 to begin moving the books to the Junior School with a hopeful opening of September 9. Although this will only be the first floor of the library, it contains the most books, and we want to get students in and reading! Fortunately for this process, the librarian last year did the most phenomenal job of boxing and tagging the 30,000 books in such a way that it will be easy to get books to the correct area/shelf in the library. (I am forever thankful for her hard work!) The grand opening will be just that...GRAND! Once the Junior School opens, we can work on getting the Senior School library open.


New terms for those of you unfamiliar with the British School terms with their American equivalent in parentheses:

Junior School: EY-Prep (covers Preschool through Grade 5)
EY1 and EY2: Early Years (or preschool ages 3 and 4)
Pre-Prep: Year 1 and Year 2 (a.k.a. Kindergarten and 1st grade, early elementary or primary)
Prep: Year 3-6 (grades 2-5 so upper elementary)
Senior School: Year 7 and up (Think middle and high school!)
Sixth Form: Years 12 and 13 preparing for A level exams (grades 11 and 12)
Registration: who is in class (in the states we "take attendance")

New Beginning!

This week marks the start of a new school year...in Bangkok!

Workdays have started for the new staff members, "induction week." I think this is a fabulous idea since returning teachers already know so much about how a school operates. While they are still on summer break, we are learning about the House System (six houses across all grade levels with a school spirit, connection, and competitive component - think "Harry Potter!"), extracurricular activities, health care, and even an introduction to Thai language and culture. Definitely a better use of time than the professional days I have gone through recently.

Today I met a few of my library staff. All three are very knowledgeable and eager to move back into the library from their temporary work space, and I am looking forward to meeting the remaining staff soon. (The renovations are moving along quickly. However, we probably will not move in for a few more weeks.) I don't think any of us are eager to have to move and organize 500+ boxes of books! Thirty-thousand books or so is a LOT of moving! I know we will have help.

So what's on the agenda next? After talking to the staff, I learned a lot of how things work at Shrewsbury. They have had great programming and activities in the past, and we are eager to continue the best practices (if it ain't broke, don't fix it!) as well as implement a few changes. While it won't happen right away, there's a strong possibility of some house competitions with Battle of the Books. We also might have some changes to the Junior Book Challenge to make record keeping less time consuming.

Overall, stay tuned for life as an international school librarian...it's going to be a lot of fun!