More than half way done!

   Hello!  I can't believe that this week marks more than half way through my placement here in Ireland.  March is almost here and the time has just flown by!  Yesterday was day 2 of the religion inspector.  Each class in the school had to recite songs, commandments, and verses from the Alive-O book which is the religion curriculum at Convent Primary.  The inspector made sure that each class was were they should be in the workbook and checked out the classroom to ensure that the proper religious symbols and paraphernalia were presented.  I found this process to be particularly interesting because I have never seen it done before.  This process is a way in which to hold each teacher accountable and make sure that the students are learning the necessary components.    

   Yesterday I did a science experiment using magnets and teaching the children about the different poles and metals that are attracted to magnets.  The girls were very interested and also worked on their predicting skills.  In addition to my usual routine I listened to several girls read and made sure that they were doing their reading homework at night.  I started a St. Patrick's day project with the girls that won't be finished until late next week.  It is a simple project with lots of steps involved in order to complete it.  I was also given the chance to come up with my own lesson doing whatever I wanted with the girls.  I decided to do a problem solving or critical thinking type of activity pertaining to coding and decoding messages.  We had a class discussion on the different types of codes and symbols we see each day.  I also tried to use examples from the U.S. that I knew were not as popular or maybe not heard of here in Ireland.  I went over a little bit of history around the Morse code and braille which are types of codes.  I came up with my own pictures for each letter of the alphabet and then wrote out my own message and asked the girls to try their best to decode it.  It was great fun watching the girls try to figure it out.  They had time to come up with their own coding system and then ask a friend or two to try and figure it out.  The lesson went very well and it was a chance to get the girls to try something new, yet still use their minds to think through the problem.  

   I am currently working on a mini science unit to do with the girls all of next week around the topic of light.  I am trying to think outside the box and find ways to engage the girls that they might not be used to.  I am going to stay away from worksheets and handouts and really try to get the girls to use what they know in order to build connections and process new information.  I would also love for the girls to use some manipulatives and materials to really get a hands on experience.  I will keep everyone posted as to the direction I am going with it.  Until next time, Slan!