Almost the Weekend...

Greetings!

   I hope this week has found everyone in good spirits!  I am certainly glad that tomorrow is Friday!  Yesterday and today were fairly good days at school.  In the past two days I have been tested in many ways in my weakest area... discipline.  The school I am at is very structured and teacher centered.  The teacher usually does all of the discipline where as in some schools in America the classroom teacher does the discipline up until a point at which they might send the child to the principal's office for further reprimanding.  I have found that once again the students in my classroom do not see me as an authoritative figure or even their teacher.  I understand this is the second week I am in the classroom and teaching, however, I have no doubt underestimated the young minds I have been so carefully observing.  

   I have sat and reflected on my course of action for the past two days in the classroom while trying to command the students and decided I must use a different approach.  My plan is to have a discussion with the regular classroom teacher and find out what my assumed role is in the discipline department.  I know what I view as stern and cross my not be the same as my cooperating teacher.  In many ways I am glad I have the opportunity to work on my weakness of discipline as an educator, though I may be frustrated at times.  I know that this is a necessary component of a successful classroom environment.  I want to improve my teaching skills and abilities and have come to Ireland to do just that.  I know that by having the children already test the boundaries, I have my work cut out.  I am up for the challenge and know that I will only become a stronger individual and better equipped teacher.

   As far as my participation in classroom activities I have stepped in to help children with oral reading.  It is great that with my help the children are getting a chance to read one on one and are given a chance to work on their reading fluency and comprehension.  I have also been given an opportunity to teach art again next week and am looking forward to coming up with a fun spring activity as the teacher has directed.  I am confident that as I am given more responsibility in the classroom, my relationship with the children will develop into one of trust and respect.  My job now is to show the children my passion for teaching and my love for each and every one of them.  I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will write again soon!  Slan!

Second Week Teaching!!

Hello Everyone!

   It is my second week of teaching this week and I have had a great time in the classroom so far, but I will begin by first giving a recap of the weekend.  I used Friday night as a time to relax and unwind from the weeks festivities.  I was ready to watch a movie and do nothing, which is exactly what I did.  I woke up refreshed Saturday morning and was ready to explore the town of Listowel some more.  I took a beautiful walk by a local park which took me next to the Feale River.  This river winds around Listowel and has some beautiful small rapids.  Before the river I walked to a popular garden spot called The Garden of Europe.  Here is where I took some more pictures and enjoyed the scenery.  This garden did not really have any blossoms but had some interesting statues and dedications.  I eventually made my way into downtown and took my time walking around and window shopping.  Sadly the weather turned quite cold and I decided to head back to the house.  Saturday night I went to a movie with my host family at their church.  This was very fun and provided a lot of amusement for the evening.  Sunday was also a nice and lazy day as it was spent going to church and catching up with friends.  All in all it was a nice weekend and a good way to get even more acquainted with the town and the local people.

   This week started off in the similar routine as last week.  The art project I made with the junior infant class turned out wonderfully!! Everyone made butterflies out of coffee filters and washable markers.  When I came in Monday there were nice and dry and ready to assemble.  The girls were excited to pick out a pipe cleaner for the body and watch their butterflies come to life.  I am currently working on hanging them from the ceiling!  I couldn't be happier with how they turned out and I will post a picture as soon as the display is finished.  I finished the duck display for the senior infant group and am now working on another display for a story whose main character is called "Elmer".  I will also post a picture of this display as well.  They are turning out great.  I am in the process of taking pictures for the first class group for their "All About Me" books.  They have each written a paragraph to introduce themselves and the pictures I have taken will go on top of their paragraph.  They are turning out nicely!!  I have noticed it is a little harder to keep the attention of the infant classes as some still haven't gotten over my accent and continue to laugh.  I am working on that and may possibly come up with a lesson we can do together to celebrate how people are different.  We'll see if that works out.

   Continuing on to the older ages I am working with, in fourth class I am helping out with a class research project on "Games Around the World".  I am working closely with the groups who have chosen to do America as their main focus.  It is great to help them and teach them everything I know about games in America and more specifically what I have grown up playing.  This is a great way to bond with these girls and learn more about each other.  I am really enjoying it!  We are in the beginning phases and everyone is doing great.  I think this is a great project for the girls to do and it teaches them about many other cultures.

   The teachers not only in my school but all over Ireland and the world are dealing with budget cuts and more importantly pay cuts.  I learned a lot listening to the teachers and finding out how serious this matter really is and how it affects everyone.  The most important I have learned from hearing about this serious dilemma is to learn as much as I can about important issues surrounding my job as a teacher.  Just listening to some of the issues these teachers have fought for and against has showed me how rallying together and taking a stand can really make a difference.  You first have to learn the facts.  This is a lesson I will take with me and bring back to my teaching experiences in the U.S.  

    So far I have really enjoyed myself at the school.  I will continue to help the teachers with their lessons for the remainder of the week.  I believe some teachers have mentioned my teaching some lessons next week.  Until next time... Slan!! (Pronounced sloan and means goodbye in Irish!!)

"Why do you have an accent Miss Kelley?"

Hello Everyone!

I just finished another few days of teaching at Covenant Primary in Listowel Ireland.  I have had such a wonderful week thus far.  Like I mentioned before the teachers are absolutely wonderful and willing to help with every question.  Each day I am asked "How are you getting along" and each time I feel more and more accepted and treated as an equal.  It is such a great feeling to know that everyone is very interested to hear about my time here in Ireland and how they can best help me feel at home.  I have never felt so at home in a school environment.   Yesterday's school day was set up just like the others.  I visited the same classrooms and was welcomed by the same smiling faces.  It was wonderful to see how many children and teachers watched the presidential inaugeration.  Beginning in my first classroom the children ages 5 and 6 could not stop talking about seeing President Barrack Obama on the television.  They were so eager to hear what I had to say about it.  This next statement sounds terrible and I am so ashamed, but I was working so hard to get some displays done for the one of the senior infant teachers that I completely lost track of time and missed it.  This did not come across the best when I told all of the children.  They gave me a hard time, which they should, and I promised to watch it online.  I have kept my promise and watched it tonight on you tube.  I was so impressed by how much world news these children know.  They are very intuned to what is going on all over the world.  

I did not want to interrupt any regular classroom lessons so I have waited until today to read my All About Me book to my classes.  Each and every class was so thrilled that I had made something special to share with them that it made reading to them so enjoyable.  The girls were very impressed with all of my pictures and could not wait to tell me everything they had in common or any stories that seemed relevant at the time.  Each child I have come in contact with is so eager to learn as well as learn from me.  I am already feeling the rewards of embarking on this journey out of my comfort zone and incredible learning opportunity.

In addition to helping out in each classroom with students reading aloud or creating interesting displays for the walls, I taught my very first lesson today.  It was very last minute and the teacher asked me about 45 minutes prior to my scheduled time in her class, that she would need to leave for a dentist appointment and eagerly asked if it would be alright for me to teach.  I was both excited and a little nervous when she asked me, but of course I jumped right in and said of course.  I arrived right when I was supposed to and she handed me the book and off she went.  I had a few rocky spots during the lesson but overall I was quite happy with myself.  I taught a language lesson from a work book, read a story, and went over some homework.  In total I taught for about 45 minutes and it felt great.  I was very thankful for this opportunity and can't wait until tomorrow when I teach my very first art lesson to the junior infant class.  The original activity I had planned will not work out because I was not able to get the correct supplies and the did not have them either.  This is just part of the flexibility and openness I am in Ireland to learn, so I might as well start now.  I am confident that I have found something else that will be great and I can possibly do the other lesson another time.

Tomorrow being Friday and the start to the weekend I am look forward to getting more comfortable with the local town and my host family.  I will write again soon... until then have a great weekend!!!  

P.S.  I almost forgot to explain the reason behind the title of this blog entry.  It is because my senior infant class asked why I talk so funny and I thought it was the cutest thing.  One of the other girls replied, "It is because she is from America and that is how they talk".  It was a great moment seeing as how I knew it was bound to come up eventually.

Some pictures of the Ireland Coast from County Kerry

My First Few Days in Ireland...

   My travels to Ireland went quite smoothly despite the delay of my first flight.  The plane departure time out of Milwaukee had been delayed and if I would have continued to take the flight, I would have missed my connecting flight out of Chicago.  Instead I was given a bus ticket voucher and told to take the coach bus to the O'Hare airport in Chicago.  This turned out better in the end because I had more time to catch my flight then I would have had originally. 

   Once I arrived in Ireland, my host mom was there to greet me.  It was very nice to finally put a face with a name.  We got to chat all the way back to their house and I was feeling quite welcome.  The rest of the day was nice and relaxing.  I got to unpack and meet the rest of the family.  I was also able to have my first sight seeing adventure.  My host parents took me to the beach which meets up with the Atlantic Ocean.  It was breathtaking and I got some great pictures.  My host parents also explained to me that all of the rain and stormy weather they have been getting is caused by the Atlantic.  It was very interesting to hear about and it made perfect sense as it has rained each day since I have been here.  I am so glad I have my "wellies" (rain boots:)).

   Once I was settled and able to rest a bit, my host mom drove me to the school where I am teaching.  It is called Covenant Primary School.  I met some of the teachers in the staff lounge and was given such a warm welcome.  I was immediately calmed when I was able to see some of the teachers I would be working with.  The staff of teachers are wonderful and so open to any ideas and suggestions.  It is wonderful.  After my venture to the school, my host mom took me around the town of Listowel.  I was shown where the post office is, bank, pharmacy, and grocery store.  Listowel is such a quaint little town and I am able to walk most places which I find very nice.  We did not stay in town for very long because the weather turned stormy and we came back home to have a nice hot cup of tea.  I have found that everywhere I go I am offered tea or coffee.  I like this because with the damp air and rain it is nice to warm up after being outside.

   Today was my first day teaching!  It went very well.  I was able to visit quite a few classrooms and begin to get familiar with the routine and schedule of the day.  I first spent some time in the junior and senior infant rooms.  These children are around the ages of 5 to 7.  They were very energetic and were full of smiles.  This time seemed to fly by.  There is a morning break where the children eat a snack and are allowed to play outside if the weather permits.  At this time, I went with the senior and junior infant teachers to the teacher lounge because there were two birthdays that were celebrated.  I found it very nice that all of the teachers are so close and eager to made each other happy.  They are also very laid back and easy to talk to.  

    Next I was taken to a class with children ages 7 and 8 called 1st class.  I listened to several children read and work on their fluency.  I also helped the teacher with some typing on the computer.  Then it was lunch time which went fairly fast.  After lunch I went to 4th class with children ages 10 and 11.  They had the most questions of all the classes I attended.  They all wanted my attention and were eager to tell me what they knew about the inauguration of Barrack Obama today.  They also made a point to tell me who was from America or had relatives from there.  So cute!!   They were learning about the Geography of Ireland I found myself learning a bunch of new facts about the country today.  Very interesting!  Lastly I visited 3rd class with students ages 9 and 10.   Again I listened to some students read aloud.  I absolutely love their accents.  Tomorrow I was told to follow the same "time table" or schedule as today.  I am excited because I am working on a display for one of the senior infant rooms and I think the children will enjoy it!  I will write again soon!