Last day in Cambridge...

Well my friends, I am sitting in my room on my last day. My bags are packed, for the most part. I am waiting on Alan, Tiffany and McKara to get ready so we can spend our last night here out at a salsa club.

Today was bitter sweet for me and for a lot of us here on the trip. For me, I was sad to leave my students. So many of them took the time to make me cards, pictures and create art to let me know how much they were going to miss me. So I decided to write out a Thank You card to each and every one of them. It wasn't the ordinary "You're a great student" cards, but it was cards that I wrote from the heart that included specific events related to that one student. I figured that any generic Thank You card would most likely end up in the circular file next week, but if I took the time to hand write each student a personal message, specific to our relationship during my stay, they may appreciate it more. I think it worked out great since I had several parents come in to say goodbye to me after school and tell me how great it was that I handwritten a personal message for each student.

During our afternoon assembly, which was wonderfully put together by my fellow USF colleague Mechelle, the students of each of our classes presented us with large cards that they created to thank us for our time there. It was very sweet and I was very surprised by them recognizing us in front of the whole school.

Throughout the morning I had the opportunity to show my class some American Football with the football I brought over from the US. They really enjoyed it, even though I only taught them how to throw, catch and run a passing route. It was so popular, other teachers brought their children out to learn how to play! Some of the other teachers even joined in, which was wonderful!

During my last week I had my final observation in which my professor concluded that I did very well and didn't even have to talk to me about anything besides saying good job. I taught a lot this past week including a lesson about Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale to complete my series on People of Faith, Courage and Commitment. I also taught the students about electrical circuits, rivers and some other geography.

I am very excited to see my family in Pennsylvania tomorrow, including Megan who has been there since Thursday. While I was at school I was wishing that it wasn't over already, but as soon as I got back to my room at the house I had the sudden feeling of anxiousness to just get home. I loved being here, but I think that 4 weeks is long enough to live here.

I made sure to get a lot of pictures this past week, including my classroom and my students for my own personal records. I feel like I learned a ton of beneficial practices during my time and I hope I can incorporate them into my class this fall. By the way, I found out that I will be teaching 3rd Grade at Shaw Elementary (off of Fowler Ave in Tampa). I am excited to get my fall assignment, which just happens to be very close to my apartment!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience here and I am sure I will update this blog with more stories and experiences as I remember them during the next few weeks. But for now, I have to go enjoy my last night experiencing some more things that will eventually amuse you instead of typing about memories that I can write about when I get back to the states!

Cheers!

London... Second Time Around

Today I woke up to Tiffany knocking on my door to get up about 7:30, with hopes of catching the early train out of Cambridge. Well, after breakfast and because of how long it takes the girls to get ready, we ended up catching the 9:30 train, which was the train after the one we wanted... but I really didn't care either way.

When we arrived at Liverpool Street Station in London we hopped on the tube and headed straight to the Tower Hill stop. My list of things to do for the day included going to the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge (often mistaken for the London Bridge), Shakespeare's Globe Theater and Westminster Abby (which I missed last week).

We quickly made our way to the Tower of London which was like walking into the 14th century... The whole place was and old village, surrounded by a 15 foot deep moat (dry now and turned into a beautiful grass field surrounding the walls). Our first stop was the torture chamber, where we saw old torture devices like the one that stretches people out until they either talk, or die...



Our next stop was the King Henry VII exhibit. It gave the history of his reign and showed all of his armour from when he was a boy all they way up to the time of his death... the originals! There was a lot of interesting stuff in the tower, like the actual chopping block where many of people lost their lives including Anne Boleyn! We got to hold replica weapons that the soldiers used throughout the history of the tower. It was really neat and I was amazed to walk in a building that has been standing for thousands of years!

After we saw the Henry VII exhibit, we went to see the crown jewels. It was pretty fascinating to see a lot of the crowns and maces from different kings and queens, but I was more impressed to see the King Henry stuff. I did get to see the largest diamond in the world though... the girls really liked it!

By the time we got out of the Tower of London it was already after 1pm. We knew that Westminster Abby closed at 3:30, so Alan and I decided to take the tube to Westminster and postponing the crossing of the Tower Bridge and seeing the Globe Theater until later in the day. The girls went to St. Paul's, which ended up being closed.... sorry girls.

Alan and I never did get a chance to return to cross the Tower Bridge, or see Shakespeare's Globe, but we both agreed that taking our time to see Westminster Abby was all worth it.


When we arrived at Westminster, we convinced the ticket office that we were currently enrolled in a university to get the cheaper admission rate, although our ID cards didn't have any dates on them. But we were not lying! Once we walked inside we were handed little handheld devices that looked like cell phones. They had little screens on them and a keypad. Everyplace you went in the cathedral there was a number. You pressed the number and then you were told about what it was and the significance. The first stop was the high alter, where every coronation since the 1100's was conducted. It was most recently used in the 50's for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and in 1997 for Princess Dianna's funeral.

Some other notable tombs in Westminster, among many, are every King and Queen since the 1200's, Issac Newton, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens and the coronation chair (used for every coronation since 1296). The building itself is over 900 years old! To say I felt like just a tiny speckle in the long life of the earth and mankind is an understatement, but I don't know how else to explain how it feels to be surrounded by thousands of years of history in one place... This picture is William Shakespeare's monument. Although he it was decided not to move him from Stratford von Avon, they did erect this beautiful memorial in his honor.



After we departed Westminster Abbey, Alan wanted to go eat at Piccadilly Circus where he claimed to have the best burger he ever tasted. Because I am a burger lover I happily obliged! We ate at a Mexican restaurant which did have very good burgers. I don't know if it was worthy of being called the best, but it was one of my top rated that I have had in a while!

As I stated earlier, we planed on crossing the Tower Bridge and see the Globe, but when we took the tube back to that area of town, the heavens had opened and rain pored down onto the city. Since the tube was so overcrowded and because we were both tired, we decided that it would be best to head across town back to the train station to meet up with McKara and Tiffany.

After waiting at the train station for a bit, the girls met up with us and we headed back to Cambridge. At the train station we took a taxi back to the Warkworth House and I went up to lay down and relax. This was the first day that my feet and legs actually hurt me... which says a lot since Alan and I have made it a point to walk or run a few miles every night after dinner.

I really enjoyed my first trip to London, but am very thankful I went back for a second round! Below is a picture from my first trip to London on the London Eye! Don't get too dizzy mom!

Friday Night Fun

Friday couldn't come soon enough! After school, Mechelle and I got a ride home from school from another teacher. The ride seemed to take longer than usual because there was a ton of traffic in route to a free concert on Jesus Green, which is a few blocks away from our house in Cambridge. We got home about 4:45 and I tried to rest for a little while.

Tiffany had made some plans with some of the teachers from her school to go eat dinner at a local restaurant and then go out for some drinks. We were all invited, but Alan and I decided to go to a different restaurant around the corner because we didn't really like the food at Nandos, the place everyone else went to eat. After dinner McKara caught up with Alan and me to go to the Boathouse Pub, the LAST of my 8 pubs required to complete the Cambridge Pub Crawl.

The Boathouse was a little farther than I though (about a 30 minute walk), but I was determined to complete my goal. When we arrived I ordered a Green King IPA and asked for my final stamp in my booklet. The gentleman behind the bar happily stamped my booklet and went to go get me a shirt. To my surprise, he came back empty handed and explained to me that they were all out of shirts! I thought "All this traveling and walking around to these 8 pubs for nothing!" Then I realized that I did have a good time doing it, and did get to sample a lot of beers...

Anyways, he explained that they may be getting more shirts in during the week, and I could also try any other pubs that I already visited to see if they had any of the shirts. Well on the way home, which we found a shorter route for, I stopped at another one of the pubs. Unfortunately they were also out of shirts. I decided that instead of walking around the whole town all night, I would just stop in during the week.

I talked to Tiffany and she told me that her and some other girls from the trip were at a nearby pub with a few of their teachers from school. We navigated our way through the crowded streets and found them at B.Bar. We had a few drinks and then Alan wanted to meet up with some other folks at a salsa club about 15 minutes away (walking). Alan loves to dance and runs the salsa club at USF. He told me if I wanted, he would teach me how to salsa. I still had to finish my pint and told him I would wait for some others and then catch up to him. He walked McKara home (she was tired) and then met up with some other girls to go to the club.

Meanwhile, two other girls from my study abroad class and I took up one of Tiffany's teachers on a ride to the club. We arrived about the same time as Alan and the other girls. We went inside, which was the only bar I had to pay a cover charge at the whole time I was here.

Because I was never in a salsa club and felt a little out of place, I found a more familiar place... the bar. After I got a pint I joined up with the rest of the gang just off the dance floor. Alan gave me a crash course on the basic salsa dance, and I before I knew it I was dancing with some of the girls in our group! I had a great time, but the steps get a little confusing after a while!

After about an hour and a half, I ended up walking home with Natalie because we both wanted to get up early the next day and were really tired. It turns out that Natalie and her husband are good friends with Mike and Amy Martz. Mike and Amy just happen to be the brother and sister-in-law of Lauren Frederick, one of Megan's best friends!

The next day, Tiffany, McKara, Alan and I were off to London... again!

Third Week of Teaching

Hello everyone!

The third week of teaching was very busy. I taught for a majority of the time I was in the classroom, with the exception of Tuesday which was Sports Day. Sports day here is a simple as it sounds. I called it Field Day when I was in elementary school, but it is called Sports Day here. Basically there are 4 teams, with a mixture of 1st through 6th year students on each team. They all compete in races (sprints, relays, obstacle courses, etc). I was in charge of Team Saturn, who ended up winning Sports Day (I blame it on the leadership!). The children were very excited throughout the day, which took place on the green outside of the school. The parents from the village came out and sat across from the groups of students who were competing. It was great to see all of the students (called pupils here) cheering on their teammates. They made flags, banners and other creative signs. I even taught them the basic American cheer (Let's go Saturn... Clap. Clap. Clap Clap Clap!). They loved it. We could have not asked for a better day... Sunny and about 75 degrees.

I also had my second of three formal observations. My lesson was about estimating and measuring. The lesson went well, but I had a little trouble keeping the lesson within the time that was planed, so it was rushed at the end. The students learned what they needed to learn, and I was happy with that.

On Friday I taught Country Line Dancing again. It was fun this week, especially since the students were excited to see that I was teaching it again! (We get the same groups of students each Friday). During the afternoons on Fridays, the students participate in 'Golden Friday'. They get to choose two different activities to participate in such as Art, Dancing, PE, etc. The neat thing about this day is that every student from 1st through 6th year are in the same classes. So the older pupils help the younger ones, it is truly a great thing to experience.

Another week down, and one more to go. Hopefully things keep going smoothly!

New Pictures & Video

Hello everyone!

Today I figured out how to upload more than one photo to my blog posts, and how to position them too. I also uploaded my Introduction Video I made for my class to view before I got here. You should be able to view it, although it is located in the middle of my posts, not the most recent post. So if you would like to revisit some of my earlier blogs you will see that I have added some additional photos and a video that mostly align with my story!

I'll update you soon! Enjoy!

Second Week & London Day Trip

Hello everyone!

I know it has been over a week since I last blogged, but things are pretty busy over here... who would have thought!?

My second week of school went great. While I am here teaching, I have three formal observations by my USF professors and last week I had my first one. I taught the first of three lessons on People of Faith, Courage & Commitment. My lesson was on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and the students really seemed to enjoy learning about him. I showed them his speech and even separated them up into two halves and did some simplified segregation activities to show them how it felt to be judged by something other than there character. It went really well.

Friday I had a lot of fun teaching the students line dancing! That's right, U.S. Country Line Dancing!!! It is a simple as playing a cassette tape that instructs them what to do, but I still needed to practice with them. I actually ended up dancing with one of the students who didn't have a partner. We had a blast.

Friday night we went out to a few pubs and I crossed two more pubs off of my pub crawl list. Now I am only one pub away from my t-shirt that says "I did the Cambridge Pub Crawl." Isn't it funny what some people will do for goofy souvenirs?

Saturday the whole house woke up early and we all headed to London. Luckily there is a big discount for a group of 4 or more people, that cuts the train ticket price in half. It also included a free Tube pass for downtown, which would come in handy.

When we arrived we headed straight for Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. My group consisted of McKara, Tiffany and Alan (who had been to London the week prior and would basically be our guide for the day). There were thousands of people who also wanted to see the famous ceremony in front of the palace, so it was packed. However, it was still special to see the royal band march down the street and into the palace gates, followed by solderers on horseback with their tall, black bearskin hats waiving in the wind.

The ceremony inside the gate was a little difficult to see, but I was able to understand what was going on.... somewhat anyways. After the ceremony, the band played a bunch of classic songs including the Beatles. What better a place to hear the Beatles than on the lawn of Buckingham Palace being played by the Queen's Marching Band (I guess it would have been better if it was the actual Beatles, but c'mon, be realistic here).

We walked for miles around the city to Big Ben, the London Tower, the Tower Bridge, Westminster Abby and even took a ride on the London Eye. The Eye moved very slow, but took us far into the air where we could see almost all of London.

I only had one regret from the trip. I passed on the opportunity to go inside Westminster Abby. It was only 1/2 hour before the entrance closed, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money to get in for a half hour.

Well, it ended up that although the front doors closed, the people who did go inside were able to stay for almost 2 & 1/2 hours longer... So I missed the tombs where every King & Queen were laid to rest, Issac Newton and even Charles Darwin (who is the grandfather of evolution, which is hard for me to understand why his tomb is in a church?). Although I didn't go inside, I did get a picture in front of it that I posted above!

We also visited a few landmarks around the city, including a monument that was protected by 4 very large lions. After we admired how large they were, we decided we should get a nice photo with them, thus the photo below!

Like always, we had a blast, but we were happy to get home and go to bed after 12 hours of walking around!

Sunday we spend the day walking around Cambridge and really took the time to admire and learn about some of the historic buildings we walk past everyday on our way to teach. I think we all started to realize that we were taking advantage of what we are surrounded with everyday, which is thousands of years of history right under our feet! In the evening we purchased tickets to an event called 'Singing on the River' performed by the King's College Men's Choir. There were about 10 young men who stood on a few punting boats in the middle of the Cam river. Meanwhile, the audience sat on the river bank that was owned by King's College. I am not sure if I have ever been in a more beautiful piece of land which was surrounded by the college and the famous King's College Cathedral. The choir was amazing and there was a great am mount of humor throughout the show, planned and otherwise.

This week I will be doing my second observation in the classroom and hopefully reporting back to you all very soon!

Cheers!

End of the First Week

Hello out there everyone. It has been a few days, but I wanted to catch you up to the goings on here in Cambridge.

The end of my first week of teaching nearly mirrored the first few days, with me teaching a lesson or two a day on the fly, supporting the teacher when appropriate. I did get to conduct an experiment on Thursday with the 4th year students about friction. It was a fairly simple experiment with jelly (known as jello in America). The jelly came in cubes, which I cut up and separated into two different bowls. I poured vegetable oil all over one bowl of the jellies, and left the other bowl alone. Then, each student would try to pick the jelly up with chopsticks (we used pencils). Obviously the oil covered jellies had less friction on them because they were lubricated by the oil, which was what all of my smart 4th year students predicted.

The children also made me a boat out of foil, so I thought I would Include it for your enjoyment!

Anyways, the weekend came quick and after a 3 hour nap on Friday afternoon I decided that it was a great night to start the "Cambridge Gallon Challenge." This challenge is to drink one pint of any Green King Pub Company beer at each of the 8 locations around Cambridge. You go to any of the participating pubs and pick up a stamp book and map of where the pubs are located. Then, you have two weeks to visit each pub, have yourself a pint and get a stamp in your book. Since I was feeling good, I decided to go to 3 on the first night and then 2 more on Sunday afternoon. Therefore I only need 3 more pints to complete the challenge!

This weekend there was also a Town & Country Festival at Parker's Piece (a giant green across the street from where we are staying) that we wanted to attend. But before we got there on Saturday we needed to do some laundry. We took the city bus about a mile and a half to the nearest coin laundry facility... what an expedition. After spending about two and a half hours and about $25-$30 American, we finished washing & drying our laundry... I wish I didn't have to do that anymore...

We did get to the festival on Saturday for about an hour. There were some nice shops inside these large tents and there was even an American Potato Pancake Stand! There were also some old steam engines, horse and donkey rides, rides and giant inflatable mountains for children to climb.

We ate some lunch there and then I came home and took a nap. I stayed in the rest of the night and caught up on some much needed sleep!

Sunday I got up early to catch breakfast and joined three girls from our house and went to 10:45 mass at an old catholic church with dark Gothic construction. It was such a beautiful building and has been there for hundreds of years. It was also the parish's First Holy Communion for the girls, so mass ran a little long, but it was neat to attend a mass here. A lot of the mass was similar to the states, but there were some noticeable changes. One example was the scented thing that is usually burned during holiday mass and special occasions. It was burning through the whole mass. I mean there were plumes of smoke on the alter while the mass went on. All I could think of was that if my mom was with me, she would have to leave. I say this because I always remember her sneezing in church whenever they light that thing...

After church, McKara & Tiffany (surprise) were waiting for me to go to the market that was a few blocks away. We browsed around and then ate at a pub called The Eagle. In addition to being one of the bars I needed to complete my Gallon Challenge, it was an old World War II bar. They actually still have the original ceiling that was there during the World War. This is important because solderers from both the British and American Air Force used to write on the ceiling with lipstick and by burning letters with lighters. There are all old pictures and patches all around the pub and somehow you can still read the original writing on the ceiling! It was so awesome to see some of the messages, like the squadron numbers and names of pilots who flew during WWII. Too bad the food stunk, but the beer was good.

I was then on a mission to try to find a new pair of brown shoes. For some reason the ones I brought with me are not holding up like I thought with the massive amount of walking I have been doing and the sole is starting to wear away. However the shoes over here cost between 80 and 110 pounds, which is about $120-190 American (Yea Right!). I quickly realized that I would have to look at some other stores outside of the touristy downtown area of Cambridge to find a better deal. Oh well...

The rest of the day I devoted to writing my lesson plans for Monday, for which I was being formally observed by my course teacher from USF. Monday I taught a lesson on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was one of the people I picked to teach my children about in a 3 week series I am doing with them called "People of Faith, Courage & Commitment." It was a really good lesson, if I must say so myself, for which I used examples that related to their everyday lives to help explain what segregation was. It was very beneficial and I am pretty sure the children understood what the U.S. was like during the time of MLK and what he did as a leader who displayed faith, courage & commitment.

I hope you enjoyed catching up with me. I am going to chat with Meg on the computer and head to bed. Thanks for reading!