Good evening from Derby!
I didn't write last night because jet lag definitely took over... I was in bed at 7 pm! Also, because it was my first day with the little ones, I was just completely worn out. I've felt much better today and have had a great first "school week" altogether!
I started off yesterday going to the elementary school that Long Eaton has partnered me with which is called Shardlow Primary School. (I feel so thrilled that Long Eaton has done this because having all the different experiences are just wonderful and way more than I expected or could have asked for! Very thankful.) I didn't take my camera to school today but I will definitely be getting pictures and will post them later. A little background about Shardlow, just to show you how different it is...
So yes... Very different! I'm blown away by how small it is and really have never seen anything like it. I also love the names of the students because they sound like classic, old names.
Something else great about being at Shardlow is they are letting me bounce around between all of the classrooms and age groups-- which will mean I've had experience during student teaching with EVERY age of student! Awesome!
Yesterday I began the day with the "Reception" class, which is the 4 and 5 year olds class. Fun! There's fifteen students in there. They started off with phonics (letter sounds), then they did some "maths" as they say, and then they had play time. I love that there is play time here! It's really nice that the students get a break during the day, and teachers do too! I have found that a lot so far, it's a little less cram-packed with content than other schools I've been to. The Reception teacher is an "NQT" or a first-year teacher. She is wonderful! I love watching her and how positive and loving she is with the little ones, but she's also just a great teacher with great questions and ideas.
There are four main teachers, one for each classroom of two grades. Then, there is the Head teacher who is like a principal, but is also serving as receptionist because there is no one else to do it! Then, there are several teaching assistants who rotate through the classrooms throughout the day. They are wonderful because when teachers go on break, they already have the tea made! Two of the assistants also serve as self-proclaimed "dinner ladies." I think they just basically do everything, and they're the funniest and sweetest people.
Lunch, which is called "dinner" is brought in from somewhere (not sure where exactly?) because the school doesn't have a kitchen. There is also no cafeteria, one of the classrooms is cleared out in time for lunch, and all the students go in there. There are 2 really large classrooms, so it works! (The other large classroom is multi-purposed for the arts classes and holds a piano and instruments as well as tons of art supplies for art. I don't know how they do it!)
For the second part of yesterday, I stayed in the Year 1&2 class, which is made of 29 students ages 6-7. Lots of energy! I love this class though, already. They are so overly sweet and polite. The first lesson I observed I knew was going to be "Maths" and was thinking that Math is a pretty universal subject, so I shouldn't have any problem, right? That was until I saw that the students were supposed to "make change"...
Not in dollars! I had to fake my way through that one because even the coins and bills come in different values in pounds, so that one didn't work out so well for me!
Also, the way I'm being transported to Shardlow is by car with Sarah from Long Eaton and then brought back by a teacher at Shardlow. It's really weird being taxied around but they seem very eager to do it! English people are just so polite and want to cater to your every need, I think. But driving here is a whole different topic for a whole different bog post.
Today, i was back at Shardlow and started my day in Years 5 and 6. Mr. Wilson is the teacher for that class, and the students range from age 10 to 11. I am obviously a hot commodity around here and everyone just wants to hear me talk, but Mr. Wilson let the students have a question and answer session with me, which was really nice. They came up with great questions and were absolutely wowed with whatever I had to say. School in the UK and school in the US is so absolutely different that they can't imagine it, as I couldn't have imagined this without coming. I helped this class with writing short stories, which was neat. The language they use is so prim and fancy and just charming to me.
After "dinners" I went back to the Year 1&2 class to help with art, which was really fun! The students did printing where you sponge paint on something and then stamp it onto paper, but the students used fruits and vegetables to create patterns. They turned out really great! I loved how Mrs Power taught this too because the kids were so entranced by it and really tried hard to make great pictures. She let the students watch a video of other students doing the same thing, and complimented how nice it looked. It got a little crazy as I couldn't fill the paint trays and wash out the sponges fast enough but it was so fun. The students were also so sweet to each other and constantly complimented each other's work which was precious.
That's about it for Shardlow! I'll be back there for next Thursday and Friday.
I really am having a wonderful time already. I wouldn't say that "I feel right at home" because barely anything is the same as home, but everyone here has made me feel so comfortable and welcomed. I couldn't have lucked out more with my hosts, they are absolutely perfect. Lauren and Scott are so hospitable and nice to hang out with, and have really made such a difference in my experience here. You never really know how your host is going to be, and I feel very lucky and thankful to have gotten them!
Something a little funny: Lauren made my sandwich yesterday for me to pack in my lunch! She's like my Mom taking care of me! Well, at dinnertime when I was eating it, I was trying to figure out what was spread on the bread... couldn't figure it out! The staff at Shardlow saw me taking my sandwich apart and all kind of looked my way. It was butter! Apparently here, they always butter the bread before making a sandwich, no matter what is on it-- and this was a turkey sandwich! Weird! :)
Another very long-winded blog but I'm still introducing things, I'm sure they'll get shorter. Like I said-- I want to remember everything!
Going to Nottingham tomorrow for weekend fun!
--Haley
I didn't write last night because jet lag definitely took over... I was in bed at 7 pm! Also, because it was my first day with the little ones, I was just completely worn out. I've felt much better today and have had a great first "school week" altogether!
I started off yesterday going to the elementary school that Long Eaton has partnered me with which is called Shardlow Primary School. (I feel so thrilled that Long Eaton has done this because having all the different experiences are just wonderful and way more than I expected or could have asked for! Very thankful.) I didn't take my camera to school today but I will definitely be getting pictures and will post them later. A little background about Shardlow, just to show you how different it is...
- The entire school has 99 students.
- There are approximately 10 members of the staff.
- The school itself has FOUR classrooms, a small library, a tiny staff room, and a main office upstairs. That is it. No gym, cafeteria, none of that.
- Almost all the students walk to school with their Moms and Dads, and they're all there to pick them up at the end of the school day.
- The school is located in the TINY "rural" Shardlow village, which is far from "rural" for what I'm used to, but is considered that
- The youngest students are the 4-5 year old class which is called "Reception" and the oldest students are 10-11, years 5 and 6.
- There is one class and teacher per every 2 grade levels or "years"
- The students all wear uniforms. Blue gingham dresses with blue sweaters, or gray jumpers with white shirts under them and a blue sweater, or collared shirts with the school sweatshirt over that for boys.
- The building itself looks very classically English and like something out of a book.
- The students' accents are just perfect, can't get enough of how they say "Miss Hagan" or "Miss Haley" :) and they're all so, so polite and well-behaved!
So yes... Very different! I'm blown away by how small it is and really have never seen anything like it. I also love the names of the students because they sound like classic, old names.
Something else great about being at Shardlow is they are letting me bounce around between all of the classrooms and age groups-- which will mean I've had experience during student teaching with EVERY age of student! Awesome!
Yesterday I began the day with the "Reception" class, which is the 4 and 5 year olds class. Fun! There's fifteen students in there. They started off with phonics (letter sounds), then they did some "maths" as they say, and then they had play time. I love that there is play time here! It's really nice that the students get a break during the day, and teachers do too! I have found that a lot so far, it's a little less cram-packed with content than other schools I've been to. The Reception teacher is an "NQT" or a first-year teacher. She is wonderful! I love watching her and how positive and loving she is with the little ones, but she's also just a great teacher with great questions and ideas.
There are four main teachers, one for each classroom of two grades. Then, there is the Head teacher who is like a principal, but is also serving as receptionist because there is no one else to do it! Then, there are several teaching assistants who rotate through the classrooms throughout the day. They are wonderful because when teachers go on break, they already have the tea made! Two of the assistants also serve as self-proclaimed "dinner ladies." I think they just basically do everything, and they're the funniest and sweetest people.
Lunch, which is called "dinner" is brought in from somewhere (not sure where exactly?) because the school doesn't have a kitchen. There is also no cafeteria, one of the classrooms is cleared out in time for lunch, and all the students go in there. There are 2 really large classrooms, so it works! (The other large classroom is multi-purposed for the arts classes and holds a piano and instruments as well as tons of art supplies for art. I don't know how they do it!)
For the second part of yesterday, I stayed in the Year 1&2 class, which is made of 29 students ages 6-7. Lots of energy! I love this class though, already. They are so overly sweet and polite. The first lesson I observed I knew was going to be "Maths" and was thinking that Math is a pretty universal subject, so I shouldn't have any problem, right? That was until I saw that the students were supposed to "make change"...
Not in dollars! I had to fake my way through that one because even the coins and bills come in different values in pounds, so that one didn't work out so well for me!
Also, the way I'm being transported to Shardlow is by car with Sarah from Long Eaton and then brought back by a teacher at Shardlow. It's really weird being taxied around but they seem very eager to do it! English people are just so polite and want to cater to your every need, I think. But driving here is a whole different topic for a whole different bog post.
Today, i was back at Shardlow and started my day in Years 5 and 6. Mr. Wilson is the teacher for that class, and the students range from age 10 to 11. I am obviously a hot commodity around here and everyone just wants to hear me talk, but Mr. Wilson let the students have a question and answer session with me, which was really nice. They came up with great questions and were absolutely wowed with whatever I had to say. School in the UK and school in the US is so absolutely different that they can't imagine it, as I couldn't have imagined this without coming. I helped this class with writing short stories, which was neat. The language they use is so prim and fancy and just charming to me.
After "dinners" I went back to the Year 1&2 class to help with art, which was really fun! The students did printing where you sponge paint on something and then stamp it onto paper, but the students used fruits and vegetables to create patterns. They turned out really great! I loved how Mrs Power taught this too because the kids were so entranced by it and really tried hard to make great pictures. She let the students watch a video of other students doing the same thing, and complimented how nice it looked. It got a little crazy as I couldn't fill the paint trays and wash out the sponges fast enough but it was so fun. The students were also so sweet to each other and constantly complimented each other's work which was precious.
That's about it for Shardlow! I'll be back there for next Thursday and Friday.
I really am having a wonderful time already. I wouldn't say that "I feel right at home" because barely anything is the same as home, but everyone here has made me feel so comfortable and welcomed. I couldn't have lucked out more with my hosts, they are absolutely perfect. Lauren and Scott are so hospitable and nice to hang out with, and have really made such a difference in my experience here. You never really know how your host is going to be, and I feel very lucky and thankful to have gotten them!
Something a little funny: Lauren made my sandwich yesterday for me to pack in my lunch! She's like my Mom taking care of me! Well, at dinnertime when I was eating it, I was trying to figure out what was spread on the bread... couldn't figure it out! The staff at Shardlow saw me taking my sandwich apart and all kind of looked my way. It was butter! Apparently here, they always butter the bread before making a sandwich, no matter what is on it-- and this was a turkey sandwich! Weird! :)
Another very long-winded blog but I'm still introducing things, I'm sure they'll get shorter. Like I said-- I want to remember everything!
Going to Nottingham tomorrow for weekend fun!
--Haley