The Beginning of the End

When I first arrived at Dublin International Airport back in October, I was tired, scared and not at all sure of what this trip would hold. One thing is for sure, this trip has been unlike any other I have ever experienced before. Not only have I seen and visited internationally famed places of interest, visited other foreign countries, and taught students from a different cultural background than myself, but I did it all on my own. There are many things in my life that I am proud to have accomplished, but this I think may be the biggest. Every trip, every weekend, every lesson plan I organized, planned and carried out myself. Looking back and thinking about how much I have experiences, seen and accomplished, I am truly amazed at what I have all done, and I am very proud of myself.
This past weekend was one of few where I did not travel to any place of interest. Instead I enjoyed a relaxing weekend with my host family. I went with them to visit Santa Clause twice. I also began to get my things in order, as I am leaving to go home this coming Saturday; which is now only five short days away!
Speaking of going home to see my family and friends, this is another thing that I now feel differently about. I think because I have always lived and went to school in a rather close proximity to all of my family that I began to take them for granted, intentionally or not. Being away from them, where my only regular connection was through an email each morning, has truly opened my eyes to how important they are to me. This time apart from them has made me realize how large of a part of my life they are.
The past few weeks have been very trying for me at school. The Christmas play is now over. It was a stressful, but successful night. The kids all had a great time. There were no major flaws and no one forgot their lines! Their costumes were great and we had quite a few parents help us out with out props. All in all, it was a very entertaining evening; one I know I will not forget.
As Christmas draws closer and closer, things around the Bohermeen community are looking more and more festive, St. Ultan’s School, is no exception. A few of the fourth class girls put up the Christmas tree and decorated the hallways last week. They were trying to go for a red, white and blue theme, on account of me, but they said that they ran out of blue so they had to switch to green. The hallway looks amazing girls!
Only five short days left here in Ireland. This has been the opportunity and experience of a lifetime. Leaving will be bittersweet. I am ready to go home and spend Charismas with my family, but I will not quickly forget all the people here that I have met!

Christmas Time in Ireland

Well, this weekend brought my travelling in Europe to a close for this trip. I was invited to Co. Laoise to go home with my cooperating teacher. This area is very rural, and extremely beautiful. Over the weekend we visited the city of Kilkenny. There we toured Kilkenny Castle, St. Canice’s Cathedral, did some shopping downtown and then ate lunch in a pub that was established in 1324. Later in the day we took a short drive to the small town of Cashel. This is the home of the famed Rock of Cashel. The Rock is a massive ruin of a castle, and cathedral. Both are located at the top of a massive cliff; no elevators or escalators to reach the top. We climbed up to the front door and enquired about a tour. The man at the desk informed us that the Rock tour was closed today due to the gale force winds. So after all the work to reach the top we headed back down the cliff. I can see why it was closed though. If someone were to fall off, there would be no saving them. It was a great weekend. It was great to see this part of the country and it was also nice to spend some time with my teacher outside of the classroom and get to know her on a personal level.
This is my second last week here. Our Christmas play is due to take place this Thursday evening. I had all of my student bring in their costumes yesterday for a dress rehearsal. It was a little crazy but it looks great and I think we are ready for a grand show in only two days! I wish I had a video recorder, but I think I’ll just be stuck with taking a ton of pictures that night. Putting this show together has been quite a feat for me. I wrote, casted, rehearsed and got all the props together for it. I’m rather proud of how things are coming along. I hope the final show is a success for everyone!
Not only have I been very busy with getting everything ready for the play this week, but I have now been teaching fulltime for quite a while. It has been going very well, but with 30 kids in large classroom, my voice is beginning to get a little sore. One class that I have never taught prior to his placement was religion. I was initially nervous about this because I went to a public school and only had religion classes on Sunday. After teaching a few lessons, this has become on of my favourite classes to teach. For one reason or another, the students are always very calm during this time and they seem to do a better quality of work for this class. I really enjoy teaching the material, as I am Catholic myself. This week’s lessons have been about the Nativity and the Christmas story. I have truly enjoyed teaching these lessons and helping the students to understand that there is more to Christmas than Santa and presents.
With Christmas less than two weeks away now I am beginning to do more and more holiday lessons. I truly enjoy this time of year. It is a little more chaotic in the classroom, but it doesn’t seem to bother me. I know they are just excited about the Christmas season, and I don’t want to be the nasty teacher who squashes their excitement.
Well, It’s down to only eleven more days for me here. I cannot begin to tell where the time has gone. I truly feel like I was picked up at the airport in Dublin last week. It has been an amazing time, and I will truly miss this place when I leave!

A weekend in London!

I have just returned from yet another amazing weekend. I travelled to London, where I met up with Erin Marks and Maggie George. Together we toured the city of London and had a fantastic time. We basically saw everything that you can possibly see in the city in one day. We saw, Piccadilly circus, the Times Square of London, Big Ben, The House of Parliament, we walked across London Bridge, saw Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and the changing of the guard, Westminster Abbey and Cathedral. Then we met up with Maggie at the Eye of London at 1:30. We took a ride on the eye, the most amazing views of the city ever! Then we did a “little” shopping. We decided to get out of the cold so we went to tea at The Goring Hotel, super fancy. I had mango and strawberry tea, very nice. We also got one of those three tier teas services with finger sandwiches, scones and cream and delicious desserts. We hung out there and relaxed for a while. Then we took the tub all over the city . We went to the Harry Potter train stop at 9 3/4, and then we went to Harrods. Just amazing, the best store I have ever been to in my life, I really wish I had about five thousand pounds to spend there!! When we came out of Harrods it was snowing just a little, very beautiful. By now we were all very tired, so we took the tube back to the hostel for some much needed rest.

Well, travelling isn’t the only thing that I have been up to here. I am down to only three weeks left of school. Monday I begin teaching full complete days. I will continue to do this until I leave. This will be quite a challenge, but I have been almost teaching full days for quite a few weeks now. One thing that is difficult about this is planning and teaching to a split classroom. Trying to give two sets of directions at a time can be very tricky, but it is forcing me to learn how to control the classroom in this type of situation, and it is helping me learn how to effectively multitask. Two skills that will be much needed in my own classroom in the future.

Aside from teaching in the classroom, one thing I have really enjoyed while I am here is getting to know the staff and the students. This past week I was invited over to a students house for afternoon tea. It was such a nice experience. Visiting with her parents and getting to know them is one thing I will never forget. I truly enjoy all my students, and so many parents have made a special effort to say hello or talk to me. It is great to be in a community that is so friendly.

Next week will be a very busy one. Thursday is the big Christmas play. I have been working with second calls to get them ready. I think we almost have it down, but there are still a few kinks we have to get smoothed out this week. We also have to get costumes, props and sense ready. Lots of work in a little time!

While I am truly enjoying my time here, with only a few weeks left until Christmas I am beginning to get just a little home sick. I am ready to go home and tell my family and friends about all the amazing things I have done and the places I have been to here.

A Very Busy Week!

What a crazy week! Monday I had quite a bit of work to do to get ready for the week. Tuesday and Wednesday Neville was here observing me. Thursday was Thanksgiving and Friday my cooperating teacher was in London, so I had the whole class to myself all day, quite the experience! On Friday night I was invited out to dinner with the principal and Neville; just a busy week! My travel plans to go to Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland didn’t work out, so I took the weekend off to relax a bit, I’ve been on the go and travelling every single weekend since I’ve been here. Te time to relax was mush needed and felt great!
Thanksgiving was this week. It was very difficult to be away from my family, but the kids at St. Ultan’s and my host family did an excellent job in celebrating Thanksgiving with me. All of the teachers at school wanted me to come in and do a short lesson on Thanksgiving. It was really fun to do projects with the little kids, and the older students were really interested in the holiday and we had great discussions about it. I now have a stack of about 45 cards on my desk from the students at school wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving. At night my host family made me huge dinner complete with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, I made a pumpkin pie to finish off the meal. Even though I wasn’t at home for the day, it was an experience I’ll never forget.
With the end of this week, Monday will be the start of me teaching full time; I will then have full days until I leave. This has two implications for me. I will have a lot more responsibility, and a lot less time to plan between lessons. Also it means that the end is almost near. I just cannot believe that there are only three and a half weeks left in this journey. I cannot tell where the time has gone.
During my first student teaching placement in the States I had a kindergarten class. In teaching these very young children I didn’t do much in the way of formal assessment. In Ireland I am in a second, third grade mix. Here I do quite a large amount of assessment. This is one thing that I feel I lave improved the most on; successfully and appropriately assessing students, their work, and their work ethics. It has been a challenge, but my cooperating teacher has been great in taking time to help me and explain how to properly assess each student. I am truly grateful to her for this, as it is a skill that will be essential in my future career.
Our Christmas play is getting nearer and nearer, only two weeks away. The students are ridiculously excited about it. This whole week we are going to be working on getting our props and background scenes ready. Most of them already know all of their lines, and will eagerly spout them off to you if you let them. I just love their enthusiasm over the play. I am really excited for the big night!!
This weekend I am off to London. I am meeting up with Erin and Maggie. We have quite a full few days ahead of us. We plan to tour the city of London and have tea at Harrods on Saturday, and then up early on Sunday to get back home in time for school on Monday morning. It should be another adventurous weekend!

Thanksgiving/Scotland

Scotland/Thanksgiving

I’d like to start this entry off by discussing my weekend in Scotland. It was just amazing! It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, anywhere in the world. I travelled to Edinburgh and met up with Maggie George, a friend from school. We stayed in a place which was directly across the street from Edinburgh castle. We took a day trip up through the Highlands and to Loch Ness. Both were just unbelievable. We took pictures of Loch Ness, but there was no Sign of Nessie. It was a very wet and rainy weekend, but that didn’t dampen the trip or our spirits at all. Edinburgh is a very beautiful city. The Royal Mile and Old Town were among my favourite places there. This was truly a great trip and experience!
Back at St. Ultan’s things are going very well. The Christmas play that I am ding with second class is coming along, much better than I could have ever hoped for. The student’s have most of their lines memorized already, and are extremely excited about their big night. This week we will be making props for our scenes. While it is a great deal of fun planning the play, facilitating practices is a very difficult thing to do. They are all so excited about it, and they sometimes get a little too carried away and silly. I usually don’t mind this; I’d rather have them really excited about it than dreading it.
I only have one more week of teaching part time, then I will be the fulltime teacher, except for Irish in the morning., I am really looking forward to this. I find that when I am in control of the class for the whole day, things go so much smother, and I cam able to stay in my “teaching groove” much better.
One thing I have started this week is visiting other classrooms. I go into other teacher rooms in the morning during the time my class has Irish lessons. I observe the teachers and help out. I really enjoy this time. It gives me a chance to meet the other students and to observe and get ideas on different teaching styles and strategies for classroom flow and management.
Thanksgiving is in only two days! I just cannot believe how fast the time has been going. I have been recruited by each teacher in the school, they all want me to come in and give a small lesson on Thanksgiving. I am really excited about this. Thanksgiving is my all time favourite holiday, and I am really looking forward to sharing and discussing this with the wh9ewl school! Travel pans for this weekend will be going up to Northern Ireland to see Giants Causeway! Another exciting trip!

Week 4

To start this weeks entry off, I have to go back to last Saturday. I took the bus into Dublin city and spent the day there. I had an absolutely amazing time. Highlights of the day included shopping on O’ Connell street. Visiting Trinity College and seeing the Long Room, and the Book of Kells. I also visited St. Stephen’s Green, one of my favourite places so far, Graphton St., Henry St., both for shopping. I ended my day with visits to the famed Temple Bar, Hard Rock Café, and The Guinness Brewery. All in all, it was another amazing experience here!
Monday was back to school. I was very excited for this week to begin as I will be starting my Christmas play with the second-class students. The very first day I arrived at St. Ultan’s I was told that I could be in charge of writing/finding, casting, setting up and producing the second classes Christmas play. I spent most of last week writing and organizing the play, and now on Wednesday, I will finally get to cast the characters and begin reading lines. The students are extremely excited about this, they have been asking me about it all week. I hope everything goes, well and we have a success in the end!
Next week will be a very busy one for me. On Tuesday and Wednesday I will be observed by Neville. Also later in the week on Thursday it is Thanksgiving. I brought along pumpkin pies ingredients, so I have to make my pies to share. Also, each teacher in the school has expressed interest in me coming into their classrooms and giving a small lesson on what Thanksgiving is. So I have to work the rest of this week on planning these lessons/visits out. I’m very excited to do this, Thanksgiving is my all time favourite holiday.
Now that I have been in the classroom for several weeks now, I am finally hitting a comfortable groove. I feel I have also developed a great rapore with the staff and the students. I really enjoy being in the classroom with my cooperating teacher; but there are definite differences in the way we teacher and instruct in the classroom. This is fine though. It helps to open me up to new teaching styles and methods for classroom control.
One thing that my cooperating teacher has started doing with me in the classroom is observing me and keeping a journal of all the things that she feels I did well and all the things she feels I could improve on. At first I thought that this would make me a little nervous and uncomfortable, but after a few times, I have come to really like it. It’s a great way for me to get instant and concrete feedback from a seasoned teacher. We have discussed it and we will continue to use the journal idea for the duration of my time. Another busy weekend for me. I am off to Scotland with Maggie. High hopes for another great weekend!

Week Three

Week Three:
After my big week of travels last week, on Monday morning it was time again to get back into the swing of teaching. It was another rough transition. After only being at St. Ultan’s for a week, and then having a week off, getting used to the whole routine again was a bit difficult. Yet now at the close of the week, I feel very comfortable in being back in the classroom.
Being that I didn’t have a classroom placement until a few days before I left the States, I didn’t really have time to prepare myself for teaching a classroom of 30 students. A surprise this week brought another student to our classroom. Not only has teaching 30 students a handful and a big adjustment for me, the classroom is also a second and third grade classroom together. This means that I am to prepare lessons for both second and third classes, and manage them while they are all in the same room at the same time. These two things have been my biggest teaching challenge thus far. In the beginning of the week, I was almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of planning, management and bodies in the room all seeming to need my assistance at the same time. But even now at the outset of the week, I already feel much better about the classroom situation.
One large project that I will be working on now is the writing, casting, organizing and production of the second class’s Christmas play. Initially I was a little overwhelmed by this too, but now that I have an idea of where this play will be going and who will be doing what, I feel like what was a short time ago chaos, is now just a little “disorganized”.
One interesting classroom aspect that I have never encountered before is having a family member in my classroom. One of my host family’s daughters is I my second class. It is interesting to see her in the classroom and then watch her reactions to her school day and her homework at home. I think this will be a good thing because I can see how my teaching carries over in a child’s day from school to home. It will be very interesting to see how this will workout throughout the rest of my time here.
Well, even after my long week of travels, I will be hitting the road again this weekend. I plan on going into Dublin City to tour the town. I hope the weather is nice and the traffic too.