2012 Spelling Bee Pretest and Words

It's time again for the Bulgarian National English Spelling Bee, or BNES. Only 25 students are able to participate in our local school spelling bee this year so the numbers need to be narrowed down, therefore the pretest. All 5th through 7th graders who are interested will be taking a test this week to determine if their English skills are good enough to participate (4th grade students will also participate however a different teacher is helping them practice). From this week on I will meet with the students once a week to practice from the local words for the 2012 BNES.

For all students who will be in the Spelling Bee (or if you're just interested), please go to the links below.

Read this: 2012 Spelling Bee Rules
Print this: 2012 BNES Local Word List (This list is what you need to begin studying from!)

Here are some optional spelling games to play:
Spelling City
Spelling Bowl

This year I am organizing an additional spelling bee for the 3rd grade students. This will give them a taste of what the spelling bee is and allow me to answer questions for them and their teachers so they are ready to participate next year. I have created a word list for them to study and we will have our 3rd Grade Bee in March. I will have a date for the 3rd grade bee and the 2012 BNES when it gets closer to March.

-And again, a BIG THANKS to everyone who helped to fund my PCPP, planning for the EFL Enrichment workshops has begun. I'm currently in the process of getting 4 schools (other than mine) to host, purchasing materials, and creating games. So far, Plovidiv is set!

Peace, Love, Literacy, and Reckless Curiosity.

Tolerance

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this post is dedicated to tolerance (specifically within the US). The amount of violence and disrespectful behavior related to hatred and intolerance in the U.S. astounds me. The only thing I can attribute this behavior to is a lack of education and interactions with diverse groups of people. In my personal experience and in the news I read about the U.S. I see some of the biggest problems with people’s view toward minority communities, specifically Muslims and people who identify themselves within the LGBT community.

In reference to the Muslim community of the United States, they have such a long history of living in America that I find it incredibly unfortunate there is currently so much Islamophobia. September 11th, 2001, affected all Americans but this event greatly affected our American Muslims. Personally, I find most religions to have far more similarities than differences therefore the amount of violent acts toward American Muslims are astounding to me. I’m grateful for Muslims who are able to put themselves into the public eye in the attempt of educating other Americans. I believe shows like All-American Muslim on TLC are great ways to get people who many have never interacted with someone of a different religion to see what their lives are like. I have enjoyed watching every episode of this show and was saddened to hear of the behavior of companies like Lowe's and Kayak who pulled their advertisements from the episodes. You can read more about these events HERE. Suhailia, who is a part of All-American Muslim wrote a wonderful blog recently about 9/11. You can read that post here, and a short video can be found here. Media projects and films such as My Fellow American are also excellent ways of educating Americans and uniting communities. I say this because there is a lot of power in education and I feel most people simply are afraid of what they don’t know. It’s this fear that can cause unacceptable behavior and violence toward “other” groups of people. I also find the intolerance many Americans hold toward Muslims to be somewhat ironic because among other reasons, didn't Europeans come to North America for religious freedom?

Furthermore, the amount of violence not only physically but emotionally toward the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community is worrying. We as Americans need to unite in educating each other in order to end the amount of  bullying LGBT youth face. LGBT Americans should not be the only ones working toward the goals of tolerance and acceptance. Straight Americans also need to stand up, homophobic jokes and slurs are not okay. I don't know how many times I heard people use the phrase "that's so gay" or "don't be gay" when what they meant was "that's so stupid" or "don't be stupid" growing up; but, it was far too many. What is okay is standing up to this type of behavior and not allowing it to occur anymore. Our suicide rate in the U.S. is outrageous and it can only be decreased through empowering one another and teaching each other the power of words. There are some amazing organizations in the states including The Trevor Project, We Give a Damn, and countless others. Please commit to making our community a better place for everyone by choosing to be kind and supporting a tolerant community.

Finally, though these words may have been spoken in 1968, I feel they still ring true today. Please take a few minutes to listen to the words of Robert F. Kennedy. 

The Mindless Menace of Violence

What will you do to spread peace and tolerance?


If you're looking for materials on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or the Day of Service connected with him. Here's a great site: MLK Day.


Peace, Love, Literacy, and Reckless Curiosity :)

Nothing like a little M.J. to spice up the day :)

Today was a nice, easy day of 3rd grade. All the kids were pretty well behaved and the lessons weren't too challenging for them (for the most part). Best of all though in one of the classes not only did a kid ask me what the word "stunt" meant but recently learned what the phrase "roger that" means and used it off and on throughout class. Also, in their homework for today they were to write the word snake and bridge (among others) 10 times. I never realized how close the words "shake" and "bride" were. The kids had a nice laugh when they realized the mistakes they made and what words they were actually writing.

Best of all for the day though and the reason I wanted to put up a quick post...

During one of the classes, a student's phone went off not once, not twice, but three times in one class period and his ring tone was none other than...thriller! Nothing like a little M.J. to spice up the day :)

Peace, Love, Literacy, and Reckless Curiosity.

On Holiday in Poland

I was able to travel to Poland for a week's vacation with a friend which turned out to be a fabulous trip. If you enjoy history, especially related to WW2, Poland is a great place to visit. Every day was packed with plenty to do and I enjoyed all of it. There is a link at the end of this post to all of the photos. But first, I'll fill you in on the day by day. I've tried to include links so you can learn more about things if something sounds interesting to you.

Tuesday, December 27th

We traveled to Warsaw via LOT Polish Air in the afternoon. Even though the flight was less than 2 hours there they gave us beverages and two delicious snacks. After we picked up our bags we took a bus to find our hostel. We dropped off or things at Oki Doki Hostel and then walked to "Frida" where we had a delicious dinner of Mexican food. After dinner we walked around the city a bit and then we were back at Oki Doki to get some rest.

Wednesday, December 28th

In the morning we headed out to see some of the sights of Warsaw. We walked to several churches and then headed to the Old Town where we had a brunch of coffee and toasted sandwiches which were delicious. The Old Town was destroyed during WW2 however was reconstructed and now looks almost as it did before the war. The morning light made for beautiful light and highlighted the wonderful scenery.

After seeing the old town and doing some shopping we headed to see one of the Palaces and large parks of Warsaw. It was a beautiful place filled with lots of birds and beauty. We even saw an extremely friendly squirrel being fed by a sweet old lady.

After seeing the park we headed back to Oki Doki to pick up our bags and then took a train to Krakow. The train ride was wonderful. We ended up having our own cabin and our ticket price even included coffee, tea, and/or water and a biscuit which we weren't expecting. I spent the ride writing postcards and listening to music. After arriving in Warsaw we headed out to find our hostel, Globtrotter. It was a nice evening and found our hostel pretty easily. Our hostel was wonderful and I would highly recommend it to anyone heading to Krakow. It was quiet, the staff were friendly and we had our own room complete with bathroom. After dropping off our things we walked down the street to have our first Polish food. I had three types of perogies and Jenn had some potato pancakes. Everything was delicious. Then it was time for bed to get ready for the next day.

Thursday, December 29th

In the morning we had a light breakfast and took the city bus over to the Wieliczka Salt Mine (Vee-leech-ka). The Salt Mine is included on UNESCO's World Heritage List and was well worth the time. Our guide was fabulous, teaching us many things about the mine and it's history. It was beautiful inside and we were able to tour the first three levels, there are nine levels in total. The mine contained beautiful rock salt sculptures and several chapels. There are even areas which can be rented for weddings, parties, or eventy.

After touring the mine we had a late lunch of delicious pizza at a nearby restaurant. Then we headed back to Krakow, stopped by the hostel, had some coffee, and then walked around the main market square. There were many tents with food, crafts, and other gifts which were fun to look at. We ended up eating Indian food for dinner which was a nice change in pace.

Friday, December 30th

This was one of the most meaningful days of the trip as we planned a tour to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. We picked up breakfast at a delicious bakery and then got on the bus. On the way to the museum we watched a documentary about Auschwitz. We had a big tour group however the museum gave us headsets to use which was much better as we were always able to hear even if we weren't very close to the guide. It was a very cold, dreary day with rain on and off. It was fitting weather for the place we were visiting and learning about. It's a hard experience to put into words as it is such a tragic place if misery. There was so much I didn't know and so many moving displays and exhibits. I'm very happy we were able to visit and witness a place that was once filled with so much hate now filled with empathy and compassion.

After our tour we headed back to Krakow and stopped by the hostel before heading out for a dinner of Polish food followed by a walk around the city and then cheesecake and hot chocolate.

Saturday, December 31st

We had a delicious breakfast of coffee drinks and paninis. Then we walked around, stopped at the post office, and went to the National Museum. There were two temporary exhibits and three permanent exhibits. Though we had checked online and thought the museum was open until 4 pm, it turned out it was going to close at 1pm so we only had an hour. I managed to get to 4 of the galleries and greatly enjoyed what I was able to see. The museum was also child friendly as many of the galleries had pieces that were able to be tried on like military items or swords that were able to be held and so forth.

After the museum we headed to the Jewish district where we had some delicious traditionally Jewish snacks and a coffee. Since it was New Years Eve we then went back to the hostel and hung out a bit before going to dinner.

After dinner we hung out at a hookah bar before going to the main market square for fireworks. There was a great mix of popular music playing and countdown was projected onto one of the buildings. The show was great and afterward we got a snack of chocolate covered marshmallows and chocolate covered bananas and then went back to our hostel. It was a great night.

Sunday, January 1st

Not much was open in the morning but we found a cafe were I had a gingerbread latte and a bagel sandwich. Then we walked to Wawel (Vaw-vel) Castle. The castle was beautiful and holds a great legend about a dragon who was causing havoc before the people of Krakow killed him. After the castle we went to the Jewish district to go to Galicia Jewish Museum. The museum held a nice history through photos of Polish Jews pre-WW2, during WW2, and present day. There was also a temporary photo exhibit of Ze'ev Aleksandrowicz which was well worth the time. I learned a great deal about Polish Jews and their treatment as well as perspective.

Afterward we had something to eat and then headed back to the hostel. We had a delicious Polish dinner followed by some dessert and then called it a night. It was a wonderful trip. We left Krakow on the morning of January 2nd and I arrived back in Sliven last night. Finally for a few videos showing random footage of our time in Poland. It's a place I would definitely go back to and would recommend to anyone interested in history or may be in a neighboring country and has some time to stop by.

I wish you all a fabulous 2012! Thanks for reading. Here are the rest of the photos: On Holiday in Poland

Peace, Love, Literacy, and Reckless Curiosity.