What am I going to do first?

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I have about two months of school left. (Yes, TWO MONTHS! No more complaining about snow days extending the school year ever again!) I have been working really hard to capture the attention of the seniors. In the last few weeks, the Ministry of Education added two extra weeks onto the end of the year for seniors and announced that the kids would have to take Examenes de Grados. If the kids do not pass, then they do not graduate. Whaaaaa? Yup. True. Aaaaaaand totally ridiculous. ¡Así es la vida!

When I am not planning or grading, I am daydreaming about all of the things I will do once I have the time. Here are my lists: Continue reading →

Don’t call it a midlife crisis! It’s a ….

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So after my last post I received LOTS of feedback. All of it positive and kind which was awesome. I heard from people I haven’t spoken to in a long time which was a hoot! I have decided calling it ‘The Year of Megan’ sounds a wee bit too self involved after a few loving jokes from friends. Thanks for keeping me humble, fam. 🙂

In addition, I realized this might be my midlife crisis. I quit my job. I am with the most amazing younger man on Earth. And I moved to a new country. All signs of a midlife….crisis? I don’t think I’m in crisis. I googled ‘other names for a midlife crisis’ and Continue reading →

¿¿El Año de Megan??

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Most people know that I am not returning to my job next year. The decision has been made. What has not been decided is what the heck am I going to to do! Lots and lots of people have come up to me offering lots of options and I am incredibly blessed to have good people in my life looking out for me. Just today I ran into one of my students from my Continue reading →

One Perfect Sunday

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On Sunday, Esteban and I went to Parque Metropolitano Guanguiltagua. It was a beautiful day – sunny, warm breezes, and blue skies. We packed a lunch of sandwiches and mandarinas, our new books (mine in Spanish and his in English), and a blanket.

We walked through a lot of the park – which is HUGE – it’s over 1.6 times as large as Central Park in NYC. I was searching for a roving group of llamas that live in the park Continue reading →

Decisions, Decisions…..

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Well, I have a big decision to make and I’m learning a lot about myself in the process of making it. First big realization: I don’t like making big decisions. It’s stressful and I have a face full of blemishes to prove it. Second big realization: Continue reading →

So…..things are good…..

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OK – it has been a really really long time. I’m embarrassed to admit  how long. All you have to do is look at the time stamp on my last post and you will know my shame. Continue reading →

Halloween, some sightseeing, and a little culture!

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Since my last post, I have realized that I need to get some fun in my life and I’ve been trying really hard to make sure I’m balancing all of the work I’ve been doing with an equal amount of fun! I’ve been pretty good about making sure my weekends are packed with goodness. I haven’t been so good about the week. But all that is about to change Continue reading →

Two months of Ecuador…

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So I’ve been living here for two months now and I have learned A LOT. Not just about education in Ecuador but about mathematics, myself, and working with others.

When I took the job, I was very clear in my interview that I had never taught pre-Calculus or Calculus. At some point in my education, I learned all of it because I have my degree in mathematics so I was sure that I could do the job. However, as all teachers know, learning something is much different than teaching it! So in the past two months I have taught my seniors Sequences and Series, Complex Numbers, Polar Equations, and now I have just started a unit on Matrices. Umm…what? I find myself up into the wee hours of the night Continue reading →

THEY RETAIN WHAT THEY LEARN!!!

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So I haven’t posted in a month and a half. People have been bugging me about it and I have to admit I feel a little guilty about it….but only a little because things at work are CRAZY!

I teach at a private school in Quito which has an amazing reputation and equally amazing children. First, let me acknowledge that I am teaching the most homogenous group of kids that I have EVER taught during my 19 years. They all come from upper middle class families. They all are light skinned Ecuadorians. They all have supportive, two-parent households and do not have to work a part time job to get by. You get the idea.

Despite its many differences from my school’s demographics in Boston, the school has really made me think about what happens in the US in terms of education from the teachers’ point of view as well as the students’ point of view. These kids love to learn. They Continue reading →