The home stretch...

Hello everyone! This is my last week of student teaching in Ireland and I can not believe it is coming to an end! On Friday I listened to more readers and worked again with sound and letter recognition. The students each have their own white board that uses erasable markers, and I have found this to be a really great tool to use when teaching spelling or penmanship. It is also a great way for the teacher to do a quick check to see if the student is succeeding at the task. I also taught a short math lesson. It was a basic review and the students did very well responding to the questions. I have found myself almost speaking now with a little Irish accent! I have been told this by some of the teachers but when I really think about it, it is very easy to pick up on the popular phrases and words used here. I have also found myself needing to clarify my directions less often. I am very pleased with this realization because that means that I have improved my language usage and am now able to be comprehended in a way that reaches the children's understanding. This was one of my main goals while being here and it is great to see that I have improved! I stayed in Listowel for the weekend and was able to spend some time with some of the teachers from school. I can not express how kind and caring the they have all been and it was great to be able to all get together and have a sort of goodbye gathering. It was very informal and laid back but I was able to really see how many people I have gotten to know and developed relationships with. It has truly been a blessing!
There has been talk about taxes, pensions, and leavies throughout my entire stay here in Ireland with the recession at hand. This past Monday the teachers were supposed to be on strike with their union because of the unfair taxing that is going on affecting the many types of jobs throughout the country of Ireland. There was a vote cast in order to see if the strike would take place and in the end it did not go through. Many of the teachers were glad to continue with school because there is so much to get done this week before the Easter holdiay break which consists of 2 weeks off. Every teacher is creating wonderful art projects to celebrate Easter. There is also another Friday mass this week for the first Friday in April. Due to this there is a lot of preparation going on in Fourth class since they are the class that will be performing the mass. Religion studies about Easter are also in full swing due to the holiday being 2 weeks away. Every class is learning and reviewing about Easter Sunday and the reasoning behind it. It is very interesting to see how religion is taught in a public school system. I have recently discovered that 97% of all schools in Ireland are Catholic schools including the specific Gealic schools. Participation at Convent Primary School in religious sacraments are optional however there are weekly assignments given in the religion workbook that all students receive. I am continuing my teaching of science and will teach a lesson tomorrow on animal homes and habitats. I am very interested to see how the students respond to the information because there are some hard vocabulary terms that not only the students are learning but myself as well that Ireland specifically uses. This has been an adjustment that I have had to make in teaching several different subjects here in Ireland. Phrases and words that I use are obviously not going to be standard here in Ireland as compared to the United States. I have had to quickly learn the new terminology and use it correctly so that the students are learning the appropriate material. I have made a point to add in what is used in the United States as well so that I am always making the subject matter relevant and practical. My power point for the Student Teaching Abroad presentation is coming along nicely and I am putting all the pieces together to give a great perspective of what I have learned and come away with from teaching and living in Ireland. I must now get back to my lessons and preparations, I will write again soon Slan!