Leigh in Azerbaijan

Today’s trip was to Örtakoy.  What a change from veggy markets and cheap clothing markets.  This was a craft or art market set up on the foreshore and next to a beautiful small mosque projecting onto the Bosphorus.
I experienced cumpir (baked potatoes with Turkish fillings) from a shop with wonderfully friendly men.  The others had [...]

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These were taken a while back by Christi but I’ve only just got copies. Highrise apartment housing is the norm here.

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Thanks to Tara Sleep I’ve just learnt about an unbelievable sinkhole that appeared in a poor suburb of Guatemala City on Feb 23rd. It may not be Turkey but it’s close to my heart. My guess is that they will never rehabilitate the land. Guatemaltecans have such a hard time!

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There is a Leigh Newton Westpark Primary School in England.  Ha!  It would be fun to drop in on one day.

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I went to the school’s production of The Leader of the Pack tonight. It was great! Marnie, the School Director’s wife, was the producer, and she said that the students’ English improved enormously since January, when they started rehearsals. To be performing a musical in a second language is quite a feat.
Ellie Greenwich [...]

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Something must have happened at edublogs.org because the background just disappeared and I’ve had to choose another background for my blog.  Sob.  I was comfortable with it too.  The NES group also had problems.  I will try and move them on a little with their blog this afternoon.

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What lovely feedback I had from the Grade 4 parents, particularly from my home class of 4C where I go each morning for just a few minutes and sing Austalian songs. I think walking into a Turkish classroom with a guitar is akin to Santa Claus walking into an Australian classroom.
Parents let me know [...]

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Americans teenagers talk about the holocaust. How can this be? Any teachers using The Diary of Ann Frank will want to use this video with their kids.
(Mmmm. the link isn’t showing! Why is that? Okay I’ll do it the long way.
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5a2e075a1a4a6e1b9770
With collective memory like this, we can be certain that it will [...]

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I’ve finished the Gr4 and 5 exam marking!!! What a task! The Grade 5s this afternoon were almost wetting themselves wanting to know what their scores were. I had told them that the exams were marked and that I would give their papers back tomorrow morning. Grades are the BIG thing here. [...]

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Saturday afternoon and it was fast and furious with parent interviews.   Most of the parents spoke English and mostly I was saying that they have charming talented children.  I had Hulya as an interpreter, and Wednesday night I will have her again, which will be her last roll at Koc as she’s moving to [...]

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