School Cancelled Due to Haze

With the AQI (Air Quality Index) readings looking bad, the Ministry of Education has closed schools for all students in the area.  Teacher still need to go in, but it is an extra day off for the students.  Since it feels a bit like living in an apocalyptic wasteland, it is might depressing.  YUCK!

Haze view in KL

At church on Sunday, it was a bit depressing to see how much haze there was in the sky.  Hopefully it will clear soon, but it has definitely been the worst since we arrived nine years ago.  We've missed a bunch of soccer games and practices, with much of the month being hazed out. 

So far we've managed to miss a lot of after school activities, but not (yet) any school. 

iPad pre-Conference

In one of the bigger professional challenges so far, I volunteered (and was volunteered) to facilitate a one day professional development for the iPad pre-Conference job-A-Like.  It went pretty well, but good to have it done, as lots of time and effort was spent trying to manage and facilitate some rich and meaningful conversations. 

It sure helps to have such amazing educators in the region.  With a large contingent from Singapore, there were some great shares and helpful discussions.  I know I learned a lot!

Friday After School

On a Friday after school (incidentally on an anniversary of an ominous day), we were testing one of the huge portable projection screens we'd ordered for large events.  Indeed, it was much larger than we anticipated.  But hopefully it will fit in well for lots of upcoming events. 

There were also a bunch of middle school athletes waiting in the library for their games to start. 

ISKL Fantasy Football Draft

It's that time of year again!  Almost ready for some football!  Yea.  Well, it is time for the ISKL Fantasy Football Draft.  With 16 teams, we're in two pools of 8.  Here is how my draft ended up.  How do you think I'll do? 

In any event, it is a fun evening at Max's house.

1.	(5)	Marshawn Lynch(Sea - RB)
2.	(12)	Demaryius Thomas(Den - WR)
3.	(21)	Randall Cobb(GB - WR)
4.	(28)	Alshon Jeffery(Chi - WR)
5.	(37)	Jimmy Graham(Sea - TE)
6.	(44)	Andre Ellington(Ari - RB)
7.	(53)	Andre Johnson(Ind - WR)
8.	(60)	Ben Roethlisberger(Pit - QB)
9.	(69)	Golden Tate(Det - WR)
10.	(76)	Ameer Abdullah(Det - RB)
11.	(85)	Doug Martin(TB - RB)
12.	(92)	Sam Bradford(Phi - QB)
13.	(101)	Denver(Den - DEF)
14.	(108)	Miami(Mia - DEF)
15.	(117)	Matt Prater(Det - K)

A Birthday

On this day, there was the chance to eat off the special plate, have some great food, and some time with family.  Happy Birthday, Doug!

Playdate

With Alice Smith starting later than ISKL, Rania had a chance to have a bit of a reunion with some of her friends, including a good friend from last year who is moving to another school.  And, of course, many of the events take place downtown, in the shadows of the Petronas Towers.  They were excited to see each other again after all summer!

The Dogs

Some days our dogs, Muffin and Chocolate get more attention than other days.  Today, Rania got to hang out with the dogs a bit - and how surprising how big Muffin has gotten - and how undisciplined (ie: untrained) is our dear Muffin.  Sigh. 

Friday Night Lights

One of the great traditions is the Friday Night Lights event - when we have loads of soccer players on the fields.  With Gabi playing on a U-13 girls team, Reeve playing on a U-15 boys team and Doug coaching a U-13 boys team, there was lots of action taking place.

Unfortunately the evening was cut short by thunder and lightning, but it was still a fun event with lots of action for the teams.

Grade 4 Performance

The Grade 4, including Rania, gave their performance for the year; with it being in September, students wrote their own scripts and presented about the school values and the school-wide learning results.  The students wore their national dress (easier to be from the USA, it seems!) and did a great performance.

Fun - and fun pictures from the theme of "Search for the Hero Inside Yourself."

MS Open House

For the Middle School Open House, I got to switch between the teacher hat and the parent hat.  For the teacher hat, it was presenting to the parents of students in my elective classes, especially Grade 7 Digital Video.  I got to show this cool picture of our family (and tell about the class.)

With the parent hat, Tracy and I tried to jump back and forth as much as possible to cover both Reeve's classes (Grade 8) and Gabi's classes (Grade 6). 

A busy, but fun evening.