Week 1

After years of planning and anticipation, last Saturday afternoon I finally packed my bags and headed off to Ireland. Saying goodbye to family and friends was much more difficult than I had thought, but once on the plane it was smooth sailing. I arrived in Dublin at about 1:00 in the morning American central time, and 5:00 in the morning Irish time. I was "collected" at the airport by Fergal Fitzpatrick, the principal at my new school. He took me to my host family's home, the Fosters, just outside of the town of Navan. After brief introductions, I fell fast asleep. After sleeping off the jet lag, I left my room to get a better look at my surroundings. There home is very nice, newly redone and very comfortable. The family is wonderful too. John works nights as a truck driver, I don't see much of him. Andrea is a stay at home mom, with three children to care for. Sarah is the oldest, she is in fifth class. Rebecca is in second class, in my room. Johnathan is the youngest and in play school, kindergarten. Outside the family hound Flash has a very comfortable kennel.One thing that has surprised me about Ireland thus far is how much it reminds me of home. The Foster's live in a home outside of town, so do my parents. The weather here is currently about the same as it is at home. The rural surroundings are also very similar to what I have at home. At first I found this a little errie, but now it is more comforting than anything. I have been placed at a primary school in rural Bohermeen town, St. Utans. It is a typical Irish primary school. There are ten classes there ranging from junior infant to eighth class. For this many grades there is a low student enrollment and there is a staff of only about 15; quite different from Westwood. My cooperating teacher Ms. Anne Marie Purcell is great to work with. I admire her a great deal. She has 31 students in her classroom and she teachers both second and third class in the same room at the same time. For being in charge of so many students she handles it remarkably well. There is a great deal I can learn from her about classroom management. This first week I have already done quite a bit. I observed my first day and on the second day I taught three lessons, one of myself, one on Wisconsin and the USA, and one on the students themselves. All three went very well. The students were extremely interested in me and where I come from. On Wednesday I did a read a loud at the end of the day. Thursday and Friday I taught second class math on telling time to the nearest hour, half hour, quarter hour and three quarter hour. I have done quite a bit of observing this week. While it is not the most engaging thing to do, I feel that it is critical for me to learn how Ms. Purcell handles the class, what routines she uses, her classroom management, and any other things I can soak up in order to make my transition into the fulltime teacher a success. Next week I will begin teaching math aand english fulltime. I am quite nervous about this (two classes at once) but it can only make me a better teacher, as it will force me to multitask to the extreme. Next week the students have all week off for Halloween and midterm break. I have quite a lot of travel plans. I hope they all go well and I am safe while traveling.