Today was my last day at Coley Mountain Primary. What a hard day! The staff and students said a little speech and gave us all a little gift. It was so sweet of them!
Throughout the whole day the students were giving hugs and asking to take pictures! They love it when you take pictures of them because they never get their picture taken! So yes I took many many pictures!!
At the end of the day I gave all the students pencils, erasers, sharpeners, board games, frisbees, and chalk. They absolutely loved it!
It was especially hard when they gave me all hugs to say goodbye. I teared up and put my sun glasses on :). We hopped in the car and all the students were grabbing and shaking our hands as we drove away. I cried :(.
They are such a great group of kids! They have made such a huge impact on me and they have made a memory that I will never ever forget!
I <3 Jamaica!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Mom and Megan
Today I got to bring my mom and sister to school with me! I was so excited to watch the reactions on their face when they walked up to the school! It was definitely priceless! My sister is a Dental Hygienist in Madison and my mom is a first grade school teacher in the Parkview School District. My sister brought tooth brushes and tooth paste for all 115 students! She was also able to give a dental health lesson to the students. As she passed out the tooth brushes one of the girls told Megan that she was so happy to be getting a toothbrush because the last time she received one was on her ninth birthday. Today she is 11 years old and she was hoping to get 2! How sad is that. It broke my heart to hear that! Imagine the things that we take for granted and she just wanted a toothbrush!
The students absolutely loved it!! It was a rewarding feeling that no one will be able to take away from us!
Once my sister was done with all her lessons for the whole school my mom was able to give her presentation. Newark Elementary in the Parkview School District donated a numerous amount of supplies. There was glue bottles, over 200 pencils, crayons, loose leaf paper, erasers, etc! It was so amazing! We got to take tons of pictures. There were many laughs and many tears! The teachers and students were so grateful for what was donated!
After our trip my mom looked at me and said, "Ya know I have looked at your pictures and I thought I knew what your experience was. After being here and sharing this experience with you there is no way to explain this experience and the feeling that you get! It is unexplainable!" This is so true. I will not be able to explain how this experience has made me feel, but I know it has changed my perspective on life, schools, and teaching. All for the better though!
I had to say goodbye to mom and Mag today! After our long day they packed their bags and we said our goodbyes. It was emotional, but they are on their way to Negril, Jamaica. They will have a blast laying in the beach and relaxing! I will miss them not being here with me!
The students absolutely loved it!! It was a rewarding feeling that no one will be able to take away from us!
Once my sister was done with all her lessons for the whole school my mom was able to give her presentation. Newark Elementary in the Parkview School District donated a numerous amount of supplies. There was glue bottles, over 200 pencils, crayons, loose leaf paper, erasers, etc! It was so amazing! We got to take tons of pictures. There were many laughs and many tears! The teachers and students were so grateful for what was donated!
After our trip my mom looked at me and said, "Ya know I have looked at your pictures and I thought I knew what your experience was. After being here and sharing this experience with you there is no way to explain this experience and the feeling that you get! It is unexplainable!" This is so true. I will not be able to explain how this experience has made me feel, but I know it has changed my perspective on life, schools, and teaching. All for the better though!
I had to say goodbye to mom and Mag today! After our long day they packed their bags and we said our goodbyes. It was emotional, but they are on their way to Negril, Jamaica. They will have a blast laying in the beach and relaxing! I will miss them not being here with me!
YS Falls
What a weekend!!! Saturday me and Jenna went to the airport and picked up my mom and sister! Man was I excited to see them! It was nice to have a little bit of home here in Jamaica! We took them to a place called Island Grill for some dinner. This was their first Jamaican meal of jerk chicken and rice! I think mom found her new favorite kind of food!! She loved it!! We all got back to the hotel around 7 and we were wiped out! Early night for all of us!
Sunday was our BIG day! We went to YS Falls! All I can say is what a beautiful place! I can't even explain the wonderful view I saw! We got to climb to the top of the falls and swim in the pools! It was chilly but refreshing! There were three levels of the falls. The second level you got to swing off of a rope into the pool! It was a blast but I was scared! I didn't want to hit any rocks, but obviously I'm still here! The third level we got to climb across the falls and do a canon ball into the next level! So much fun!
Once we were done swimming we went zip lining down and around the falls! It is a definite rush zooming and flying across the falls!
I was so happy to have my mom and sister here to experience all this with me! They definitely made my weekend!!!
Sunday was our BIG day! We went to YS Falls! All I can say is what a beautiful place! I can't even explain the wonderful view I saw! We got to climb to the top of the falls and swim in the pools! It was chilly but refreshing! There were three levels of the falls. The second level you got to swing off of a rope into the pool! It was a blast but I was scared! I didn't want to hit any rocks, but obviously I'm still here! The third level we got to climb across the falls and do a canon ball into the next level! So much fun!
Once we were done swimming we went zip lining down and around the falls! It is a definite rush zooming and flying across the falls!
I was so happy to have my mom and sister here to experience all this with me! They definitely made my weekend!!!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Ready for a relaxing weekend!
Still having a blast! I absolutely love Jamaica! This week In the schools I learned that the first grade class is far behind compared to my students in Stoughton. Right now they are just learning their beginning consonant sounds. I feel this is the same for all the classes. It feels they are one year behind on every grade.
This week I also got observed by my cooperating teacher! I created a fun activity for my students and the loved it. I had them working in groups which they have never done before. They were doing hands on work which helped them gain a better understanding of the letters I was teaching them. I thought the lesson went fabulous and I guess it did because I got all high scores! Made me feel good!
On Wednesday I got to observe the Basic School which is ages 3-5! They are so cute!!!
Thursday and Friday I helped Miss Jenna with PE. It is so fun to watch them play the games we show them. it amazes me how much they can't wait for PE! Ever minute someone is coming up to me, "Miss Miss, PE today!" I feel bad when they don't have PE because they look forward to it and this is the only time thrived PE, when the whitewater students are down here. It is sad to hear that they don't continue it when we are gone.
I am definitely looking forward to this weekend, my mom and sister are coming down to visit me!!!! It will be nice to see a little bit of home!!
This week I also got observed by my cooperating teacher! I created a fun activity for my students and the loved it. I had them working in groups which they have never done before. They were doing hands on work which helped them gain a better understanding of the letters I was teaching them. I thought the lesson went fabulous and I guess it did because I got all high scores! Made me feel good!
On Wednesday I got to observe the Basic School which is ages 3-5! They are so cute!!!
Thursday and Friday I helped Miss Jenna with PE. It is so fun to watch them play the games we show them. it amazes me how much they can't wait for PE! Ever minute someone is coming up to me, "Miss Miss, PE today!" I feel bad when they don't have PE because they look forward to it and this is the only time thrived PE, when the whitewater students are down here. It is sad to hear that they don't continue it when we are gone.
I am definitely looking forward to this weekend, my mom and sister are coming down to visit me!!!! It will be nice to see a little bit of home!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Week 2
This weekend was amazing!!! We went to Negril relaxed by the beach for the weekend. Saturday we went snorkeling! It was a lot of fun! I would definitely go again! Sunday we went to a place called Ricks Cafe. This is place where people go cliff diving! Yes I went cliff jumping! Nervous, yes, but it was a complete blast!
Back to teaching on Monday. It was nice to be back at school. It's amazing how attached I get with the students! They are a wild group and hard to control but ya got to love them!
Today I got observed by my university supervisor. I was nervous because of how she was going to judge me on classroom management. Everything went well though! I was very surprised on how well behaved my students were! They actually listened to me :) They loved singing the morning songs with me and playing the game I made up for them. They were so in tuned which made me a happy teacher! By the way I got all high scores :) Yay!
It's funny how they students and teachers use different words for objects. For example:
Eraser- rubber
A period- a full stop
A lower case letter- a common letter
They get confused when I use the 'american' way! Funny!
Back to teaching on Monday. It was nice to be back at school. It's amazing how attached I get with the students! They are a wild group and hard to control but ya got to love them!
Today I got observed by my university supervisor. I was nervous because of how she was going to judge me on classroom management. Everything went well though! I was very surprised on how well behaved my students were! They actually listened to me :) They loved singing the morning songs with me and playing the game I made up for them. They were so in tuned which made me a happy teacher! By the way I got all high scores :) Yay!
It's funny how they students and teachers use different words for objects. For example:
Eraser- rubber
A period- a full stop
A lower case letter- a common letter
They get confused when I use the 'american' way! Funny!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Ummmm.....
Today was a day that was going so well with the class! Me and the teacher were having fun singing and the students were loving it too. The students were so excited to sing the says of the week song! It just thrilled me ti see their excitement!! But today was a day that I don't want to see again. A child was misbehaving and the teacher ran over to him with a large thick stick, cornered him and hit him in the back and the side. I stood there in shock as he cried his eyes out and screamed. I had no clue what to think. Thankfully it was almost lunch so I went to the break area and just cried. I have never felt that feeling before. I got instantly sick to my stomach and could barely function cuz of what I saw. Who in there right mind would hit a 1st grader, not just a 1st grader but any child like that. I get sick just thinking about it. Hopefully it's the last time I see that!!!!
Thankfully we leave for Negril tomorrow afternoon for some relaxing and some beach action! I will definitely be on the beach ALL weekend :)
Have a great weekend and hope your enjoying the snow!
Thankfully we leave for Negril tomorrow afternoon for some relaxing and some beach action! I will definitely be on the beach ALL weekend :)
Have a great weekend and hope your enjoying the snow!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Better :)
Yes today was a lot better :) I was a little nervous because school started at. 8:30 and there were only 2 teachers there at 8:40. I know that is something that would not happen in the states! Finally, I met my teacher today and within five minutes she realized she left a key for something at home. At this point she looked at me and said, "there yours til I get back." Again I thought! I was able to take them outside and teach then songs I taught my first graders at Kegonsa! They had fun, but in the end they kept asking, "Miss,miss, can we play ball." These students want to be playing games and moving all the time.
Today was more of a relaxing day for me! I was able to just observe, but still I couldn't help my self from helping the students! What can I say, I love what I do!
I made a smart decision today and brought extra pencils, erasers, and sharpeners to school. It is amazing that these supplies are not easily accessible to them! I gave all my students an eraser to put on there pencils. I told them they had to keep the erasers for the time I was there. I realized that the students were trying not to use them to save them for a long time. It's like they were afraid because they might not get another one. They were all very grateful to receive one.
I feel good about the rest of my time here! It should be a blast!
Today was more of a relaxing day for me! I was able to just observe, but still I couldn't help my self from helping the students! What can I say, I love what I do!
I made a smart decision today and brought extra pencils, erasers, and sharpeners to school. It is amazing that these supplies are not easily accessible to them! I gave all my students an eraser to put on there pencils. I told them they had to keep the erasers for the time I was there. I realized that the students were trying not to use them to save them for a long time. It's like they were afraid because they might not get another one. They were all very grateful to receive one.
I feel good about the rest of my time here! It should be a blast!
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