Virtual School

Last week we had Virtual School for three days.  All the teachers, from Kindergarten to 12th grade, put their assignments on a webpage and students did all their work from home.  They had to check the webpage for each class and upload assignments for us to correct.  

King Abdullah

Apparently the King of Saudi Arabia sometimes makes a decree and closes all schools, because of a health risk, or security risk, or just because he's visiting town.  Last year the school was closed for three weeks to prevent the spread of swine flu, and the teachers had to scramble to figure out how to continue classes online.  The administration is being proactive now and having us practice so we are prepared for the next closure.  

And, the next closure almost happened this week, when the power at school was out all weekend (Thursday & Friday, remember...).  No power means no air conditioning!  Yikes!  Luckily  they fixed it by Saturday morning so we could hold school as normal.

Rob and I both really enjoyed virtual school.   We put our assignments online the night before, and some teachers were very creative.  The kindergarteners made homemade playdoh, the band class had to watch two performances of the same piece of music on YouTube and write a critique, and the weightlifting class had to make videos of themselves working out and send them to the teacher.  The teachers still went to school, and we spent the day answering email questions from students and looking at submitting assignments.  Everyday we had a "mandatory" catered lunch in the staff lounge.  I could handle a few more days of virtual school!

On Wednesday, I leave for the capital city of Riyadh, about a four hour bus ride from Dhahran/Al-Khobar where we live.  I'm taking 12 girls to play in the Inter-Kingdom JV volleyball tournament.  We will play against American, British, and International schools from all over Saudi Arabia, including Jeddah, Yanbu, and Jubail.  I'm excited for the trip, because I haven't gotten out into the desert yet, and I've heard the sights along the way will include many camels and sand dunes!  I will definitely take pictures for a future post. 

FYI: On the map to the left, you will see our city, Dhahran, which is on the Arabian Gulf.  We call it the Arabian Gulf  because this shore belongs to the Arabs.  If you live in Iran, you might call it the Persian Gulf, because the other shore belongs to the Persians.  Fascinating.