Year 2 at the Canadian International School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

There are many advantages of working at a school two years in a row:

1. Names!
I love the fact that I know the names of many of our students by name.  I see 450 students in a week and I would normally know their names by now but here in Vietnam many students have the same last name like Nguyen (pronounced Win) or Tran.  Students also go by two names here.  They have an English name that they choose to use while at school ( and they can change it whenever they wish) and they also have their given name.  Sometimes I know their preferred name but don't always know thier given name.  sometimes I know their given and preferred name but have not been able to successfully pronounce it!  Attendance when covering a class can be a challenge as I really want to pronounce each students' name correctly.
I also have learned several names in the many departments and we have developed some positive relationships in the marketing, purchasing and IT departments that are making my job much easier this year....
Luckily, Phuong my library assistant, is here and she is an amazing translator and communicator of our crazy ideas in the library learning commons!
As we teachers cycle in for two year stints I had to say goodbye to my elementary teacher-librarian partner, Karen in June. She was a great mentor for me last year as she helped me learn the procedures and policies that are unique to CIS school and to Vietnam. Thankfully she was replaced by Claire who has learned the job quickly!  She is an enthusiastic and a positive force!

2. Connections Around the City
Our VP Andrew has been part of team of other international school administrators that have been working hard to have us connect for social and professional goals.  I am looking forward to the November PD day where I will be working with other Teacher -Librarians from 6 other international schools.  I know we wil learn a lot from each other.

3. PD through Twitter
I have been able to keep up on professional news from home and away via Twitter just as I had when I was at home.  The 12 hour difference has made it challenging to participate in some chats (there is one called #pubpdasia) but technology such as Flipgrid has provided a great solution to connecting classes and teachers.  We are really trying to enhance our global literacies.

4. ELL is so interesting!
I am learning so much more about the way the Vietnamese language is spoken and learning how to create resources that are both mirrors and windows for our students here.  For example I have highlighted the Orca sounding books and encouraged our ELLs to read them as quick reads.  I am also gaining insight into the structure of the Vietnamese language as I see similar patterns in their English writing. I did not really understand the struggle some of our students face last year that I do now.  I think living in a country where you cannot speak the dominant language has been a real learning opportunity for me.

5. I have been getting more and more students to read!
I love that I have more books and because I know the students better this year I can better match the book to the students.  I decided to genrefy the small Senior Fiction collection and I think it helped me to weed out irrelevant books and it's now helping students to find books that interest them. Students are asking me for suggestions more and more which is exactly why I am here!

Life is busy and I feel like I'm making a positive contribution!