April 2009 – Page 3 – Bill's Blog

My Two Angels! Family Journal: April 3, 2009

April 4, 2009April 4, 2009billkralovec

My Two Angels, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Spring has hit Belgrade in a huge way! The week the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, with bright, sunny skies and warm temperatures. There are literally millions of blossoms in the apple and cherry trees in the city, making Belgrade a springtime paradise.

We have several magnolia trees in our yard. My two angels are shown above enjoying the fragrant blossoms. We didn’t know what kind of bushes they were until this week, when they suddenly bloomed. One of the pleasant surprises of moving to a new place. We have three of them in the garden, and along with a fig tree, it makes for a pleasant yard. We really enjoy family times out there. We also have a nice fire place and gazebo that makes it the perfect place for BBQ’s and entertaining. A big thanks to the previous principal, Clint Calzini, for finding this house!

Nadia is feeling better. She was out of school Thursday and Friday with the flu. It was a busy week, with Spirit Days in both the middle school and lower school. I chaperoned a part of the dance last night and had to take the kids so Nadia could rest. It will be a nice Saturday with the family. I leave for Estonia and the CEESA Principals’ Conference tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll make the most of family time today and tomorrow morning. I return Wednesday afternoon.

Classroom Observations: Wednesday April 1, 2009 Period 1

April 3, 2009April 3, 2009billkralovec

Occasionally I like to document digitally some of my classroom observations to give the community an idea of the daily teaching and learning in the classrooms.

Wednesday I was in the middle school and they are in the midst of “Spirit Week.” Each day, students are asked to dress up according to a theme and there is a fun activity during the lunch period. It gives a lift to the students enthusiasm and is a rally point in the school calendar. Above, “Vladamir Putin” is surrounded by his “body guards” although I don’t know what kind a protection a banana offers.

Today is the culmination of the week and the students are holding a Locker Decorating competition. It is designed to get the students to clean their lockers and use them more effectively. Many students continue to carry around all their books in their bags instead of storing them in their lockers. There will be a dance tonight that the STUCO students are organizing.

The Grade 8 Design and Technology class was working on calligraphy. Below, David shows his favorite Gothic script, “Fraktur” which was made popular in the early 1500’s by Maximillian, the Holy Roman Emperor.

In science, Mrs. Medenica prepared a wonderful presentation on geological time. Her classroom is an “oasis of learning” and she always posts much student work.

The grade 7 Language Arts class was practicing their new vocabulary words, “roster”, “procrastinate”, and “trenchant”. I believe a foundation to a good education is possessing and using a large vocabulary. Words are power!

One thing I noticed is the tendency of the students to socialize in their own ethnic or nationality group. Teachers need to be aware of this and when designing seating charts, or organizing collaborative work, they need to purposely create diverse groups. It is good to have students from different cultures working together.

Serbia Defeats Sweden

April 2, 2009April 2, 2009billkralovec

Last night a bunch of us from school went to the national soccer team of Serbia play an exhibition match with Sweden. The game was held in Partizan Stadium, which is close to the school. Serbia is doing well lately in it World Cup Qualifying Group and continued to play top flight soccer with a 2 – 0 victory.
The “White Eagles” got off to a fast start with a goal in the first minute of play by the 6 foot 8 striker, Nikola Zigic. He plays in the Spanish league (Racing Santander) and used his height to head in a crossing pass into the back of the net.

Sweden dominated play in the first half but did not get a goal. I had to go home to take care of the kids as Nadia has the flu and needed help. Fortunately, I didn’t miss much of a half and got back in time to see Serbia get back control of play. They scored a second goal in the 82nd minute by Bosko Jankovic, who plays for Serie A team Genoa.
Serbia is currently first in its group in qualifying for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. They are at the midway point of the games. The top team in this European Group 7 qualifies automatically for the World Cup. In the remaining five games, Serbia will host Austria on June 6, travel to the Faroe Islands on June 10. When I get back from summer holidays, they have a huge game against soccer powerhouse France on September 9 at Red Star Stadium. They then host Romania on October 10, and finish the qualifying round by traveling to Lithuania October 14.
Serbia’s main rival in the group, France, defeated Serbia, but they lost to Austria and tied Romania, to end up 2 points behind Serbia. Lithuania is third, 3 points behind Serbia and Austria is five points behind.

Kosovo-born, CSKA Moscow Player Milos Krasic Heads Towards the Net

Serbia features several European professional soccer superstars. The captain of the national team, Nemanja Vidic is considered one of the top defenders in Europe and plays for Manchester United. They have many young stars and this is a team that has a shot, as its toughest games in the second half of the qualifying round are at home. Regardless of the outcome, it will be exciting to follow.