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!