February 27

This week has started off pretty normal. Yesterday we started the day off with more poetry. They began looking at rhyming patterns and then began putting all the elements of a poem together. They were given 2 poems in which they had to find the rhyming pattern, personification, simile, metaphor, alliterations, and onomatopoeias. They then had to practice reciting the poem and for homework they were to practice it and we listened to some of them today. Following this, we had math in which we finished the review game. During this time, 2 of the students took their National Assessment test. I had a lot of confidence in these 2 boys that they would pass because they’ve been grasping all the topics and haven’t had any problems. However, after looking over the test, one of them has actually not passed. He will have the opportunity to take a re-test; however it’s very hard to take when one of the students you’ve been working with for so long fails. I know he is more than capable of passing this test, and after talking with my cooperating teacher, she believes that he, along with many of the other students panic under pressure. She was surprised that a lot of the students that she’s been working with have failed the test as well. It’s just very frustrating because I feel like I’ve done something wrong with my teaching but my cooperating teacher assures me that there’s nothing that I could have done because he knows what he’s doing when verbalizing it and when doing his daily work. It’s definitely made me reflect a lot on how I’ve been teaching and what I could have changed. In the afternoon, we went to the computer suite and I showed all the students pictures of their pen pals. Most of them enjoyed them, however there were a few that thought it would be alright to laugh at the pictures because of their appearance. The class had a big talk about it this morning and we incorporated the poem “Prepare a face to meet the face that you will meet” into the lesson. Some students even added some other proverbs such as “Beauty is only skin deep” and “Never judge a book by it’s cover” to our list. I truly think that this got through to the students and this afternoon they wanted to see the pictures again and were very excited and only had good things to say. After break, I did a lesson on T.S. Eliot and the “Cat” poems. What I had them do was first look at 4 lines of 3 of the poems. We then discussed them and then I had the class break into groups and I gave each group the full version of one of the poems. They were to work together to present their poem. They could either just recite it or present it in a different way. It was a lot of fun and I was surprised at how enthused they were about doing this. It was also fun to see how each group presented their poem. These poems have a lot of humor in them so the groups were able to have a lot of fun with them. Some just recited it, many of them recited it and acted it out, and one group even sang part of it. It was great! After lunch, they were very anxious to get their pen pal letters so I gave each group their letter and then we went to the computer suite to type out letters. When they were finished with their letters they worked on their independent Peru project. Along with this, we've got a new student in the class, Katy. She has been adjusting very well and seems to fit right in with everyone.

This week the school has also started a fitness program called “Shake til Break.” 15 minutes before their 11am break time, the whole school goes outside and someone from the community comes and does some fun warm-ups, routines, or exercises. There’s music and everything. Before and after the exercises everyone is dancing. It’s so fun and really enthuses the whole school. I think it’s a great way to promote a healthier, fit lifestyle.

February 23

What a week! It's been so busy in this P7 classroom. Wednesday we started the day off with swimming at the high school followed by maths. The kids are continuing working on perimeter and I introduced area to them. They are catching on great. We then started working on haikus. For the lesson, we had the kids watch a short clip of the movie Robin Hood, and had them focus on the arrow that was in the scene. They all came up with some great haikus. The afternoon was spent at an all-school assembly and then the kids had french. Thursday morning the kids had an opportunity to go to the computer suite to work on either poetry or their Peru project that they started. Following that we had maths. For the lesson, I had the kids go around the room and find various objects, such as the whiteboard, desks, or books, and measure the perimeter and area. They loved this! I only had about 5 students for maths because most of them were at the net ball tournament that was taking place. After break, we continued working on haikus. I had them watch another clip from Robin Hood. I had them focus on Robin Hood's face and eyes. I then switched gears a little bit from action to something a little bit more mellow. I put on the very beginning part of Pride and Prejudice when the sun is first coming up. I wanted them to use their own experiences of sunrises they have seen. The next part I showed them was right after that when the girl is walking and reading. I had them come up with various words that could describe her and then had them write their haikus. After, I gave each student a piece of paper and they were able to pick one of their 3 haikus and illustrate it. For this lesson, I was being observed by Neville. I was very nervous but he said it went very well. There were a few things he said I should have done different, such as when we came up with a list of words I should have written them on the board. He also said that I should have had each table come up separately to get the paper instead of having them all come up at once. But overall he said I had good authority in the classroom and that he feels I will succeed when I get my own classroom. I was so relieved and excited when he told me this! The afternoon was spent at Street Jam where each class gets a chance to learn a dance with a professional dance teacher. It was a lot of fun and I even got to join in with them! Today, we began the day by looking at another movie clip from North and South. I had them focus on the face expression of the main character. We then had maths where we did a review game. I set it up kind of like Jeopardy and they absolutely loved it! Neville came in and watched this lesson as well and he said it was an excellent lesson that got all the kids excited and involved. He was also very impressed that the students asked if we could continue it on Monday. This afternoon we began observational drawings in art and went for some more Street Jams.

I'm very happy with the outcome of this week! It was very reassuring to hear Neville tell me that I will become a great teacher and that he would put me on his staff anyday. He also said that I had a lot of confidence in the classroom.

February 20

This week has started off with a couple new topics in which the students have started and are enjoying. In language, we've moved from creative writing to poetry. My cooperating teacher and I didn't know how well the students in this class would grasp the idea of poetry but surprisingly they are loving it and couldn't get enough time to read and look for poems. Many of the students were in the mindset that poetry needs to rhyme but once they realized that a lot of it is just words and doesn't have to rhyme they had a better attitude towards it. I began the lesson today by looking at personification and had the kids come up with some sentences of their own. I was very impressed with many of them, especially when one of the more quiet boys made one up that read "My hair danced as the wind blew through it." I thought that was quite impressive. We then went to the computer suite and I introduced them to the story The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. They had never heard of the book and I used that to show various examples of personification. I then had them work in partners and they were to write their own stories using personification. Once the story was written they were able to either draw illustrations or use computer generated pictures that were really exaggerated and showed the personification. Following that, we began looking at actual poetry and I was introduced to the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. It was great and the children loved it! I think they were able to see that poetry can be fun and silly, making it more appealing to them. What we're going to be doing with this unit is having the kids make their own anthology of poetry. They will have to have a minimum of 10 poems, 4 they have to write on their own and the other 6 can be poems that they found that they really like. Each week we will be introducing different types and styles of poetry. For the rest of this week, we will be looking at the haiku along with the tanka, which is actually just a response to a haiku. Along with poetry, we started our Peru unit. Yesterday we brainstormed what we already knew about Peru and how we wanted to go about the unit. The students decided that they wanted to do individual projects, some making fact files, some making posters, and others compiling information and putting it in their jotters. Each child then came up with a list of various things about Peru that they wanted to find out. Throughout this unit, they will have opportunities to find out what they want to know about Peru and they will be assessed according to what information they chose to research and present. After that, we looked at the flag of Peru and the students were able to create their own flags and use them in their projects. Today, we talked about where Peru was in South America, what countries border it, what rivers run through it, and where the rainforest and mountains are located. We also looked at the capital city and other major cities. I then gave each child a blank map of Peru and they were to locate these things using atlases and other books that were provided. We are continuing doing perimeter and area in maths, and they are really coming along with that. Because they will be doing National Assessments soon, sometime next week I want to create a review game for them to play to get more practice on concepts before these tests. Along with this, we are still patiently awaiting replies from our pen pals back in Wisconsin. Neville is going to be coming this Thursday and Friday to observe me. I'm kind of nervous about it but I know it will go well. Thursday will also be hectic because half the girls are in a netball tournament in Galashiels and won't be back until the afternoon when they will be going to Street Jam. It's going to be a crazy, but fun end of the week!

This past weekend was spent in Edinburgh and Loch Ness. It is such a beautiful part of the country, however I didn't get a glimpse at Nessie. :) This coming weekend we will be travelling to Glasgow again. Because the weather was so rainy last time we went we didn't get to see a lot so hopefully it cooperates this weekend. I was thinking last night that I will be here for only 3 more weeks. Where has the time gone? I can't believe how fast it's gone. It's been a great time and I've learned and been challenged so much. I know the last 3 weeks will go as well as the first 6 weeks have!

February 20

This week has started off with a couple new topics in which the students have started and are enjoying. In language, we've moved from creative writing to poetry. My cooperating teacher and I didn't know how well the students in this class would grasp the idea of poetry but surprisingly they are loving it and couldn't get enough time to read and look for poems. Many of the students were in the mindset that poetry needs to rhyme but once they realized that a lot of it is just words and doesn't have to rhyme they had a better attitude towards it. I began the lesson today by looking at personification and had the kids come up with some sentences of their own. I was very impressed with many of them, especially when one of the more quiet boys made one up that read "My hair danced as the wind blew through it." I thought that was quite impressive. We then went to the computer suite and I introduced them to the story The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. They had never heard of the book and I used that to show various examples of personification. I then had them work in partners and they were to write their own stories using personification. Once the story was written they were able to either draw illustrations or use computer generated pictures that were really exaggerated and showed the personification. Following that, we began looking at actual poetry and I was introduced to the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. It was great and the children loved it! I think they were able to see that poetry can be fun and silly, making it more appealing to them. What we're going to be doing with this unit is having the kids make their own anthology of poetry. They will have to have a minimum of 10 poems, 4 they have to write on their own and the other 6 can be poems that they found that they really like. Each week we will be introducing different types and styles of poetry. For the rest of this week, we will be looking at the haiku along with the tanka, which is actually just a response to a haiku. Along with poetry, we started our Peru unit. Yesterday we brainstormed what we already knew about Peru and how we wanted to go about the unit. The students decided that they wanted to do individual projects, some making fact files, some making posters, and others compiling information and putting it in their jotters. Each child then came up with a list of various things about Peru that they wanted to find out. Throughout this unit, they will have opportunities to find out what they want to know about Peru and they will be assessed according to what information they chose to research and present. After that, we looked at the flag of Peru and the students were able to create their own flags and use them in their projects. Today, we talked about where Peru was in South America, what countries border it, what rivers run through it, and where the rainforest and mountains are located. We also looked at the capital city and other major cities. I then gave each child a blank map of Peru and they were to locate these things using atlases and other books that were provided. We are continuing doing perimeter and area in maths, and they are really coming along with that. Because they will be doing National Assessments soon, sometime next week I want to create a review game for them to play to get more practice on concepts before these tests. Along with this, we are still patiently awaiting replies from our pen pals back in Wisconsin. Neville is going to be coming this Thursday and Friday to observe me. I'm kind of nervous about it but I know it will go well. Thursday will also be hectic because half the girls are in a netball tournament in Galashiels and won't be back until the afternoon when they will be going to Street Jam. It's going to be a crazy, but fun end of the week!

This past weekend was spent in Edinburgh and Loch Ness. It is such a beautiful part of the country, however I didn't get a glimpse at Nessie. :) This coming weekend we will be travelling to Glasgow again. Because the weather was so rainy last time we went we didn't get to see a lot so hopefully it cooperates this weekend. I was thinking last night that I will be here for only 3 more weeks. Where has the time gone? I can't believe how fast it's gone. It's been a great time and I've learned and been challenged so much. I know the last 3 weeks will go as well as the first 6 weeks have!

February 16

It seems like such a long time since I’ve last written a blog! Well, half-term break is over and we’re back to school. We began the short week with some writing, in which we continued with creative and imaginative writing. I told the students about an incident that happened to me at the airport over the break and they then used the setting of an airport to begin their writing piece. They have come such a long way with their writing and each piece seems to be getting better and better. Because in the next week or two we will be moving on to look at poetry I did a grammar lesson on similes and metaphors and how and why writers and poets use them in their writing. The students seemed to grasp it all and were even able to come up with many of their own similes and metaphors. Before break I had done an REM lesson on respect and was very surprised by the results. Yesterday Mrs. Higson and I actually went to the other P7 class and taught this same lesson together. It was very interesting because even though the classes are the same age group, the answers were completely different and the maturity levels of the class were definitely shown. In maths we moved on to using centimeters and meters in calculations. We began on Wednesday with basic conversions from centimeters to meters and then meters to centimeters. Yesterday we moved on a bit to begin measuring the perimeter of objects and today some of the students continued to look at perimeter while some that have picked up on it quickly have gone on to area. Wednesday and Thursday we have also been finishing up and practicing for our Shakespeare productions and I have actually already videotaped two groups already and they both were great. Today we started off the day with more Shakespeare and then went into some more writing. We finished off the day and the week by doing some observational drawings and then having a work time where some groups were able to finish their Chaucer characters and others were able to practice their Shakespeare plays.
Now, I wish the week could have been that easy. Kim and I had a great time in London and Paris. It was everything I thought and more. One of my favorite things that I saw was the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace in London. I had heard so much about it and was so happy that we were able to see it. We took the Big Bus Tour and was able to see all the great sites throughout London. We stayed in Kensington where there seems to always be something going on. From London we went to Paris and had a fabulous time as well. The first day was spent at the Eiffel Tower and other sites in Paris. I was even able to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing. The second day we went to EuroDisney and that was a lot of fun too. It was a great time and everything was flawless until coming back to Scotland. In London, right before getting on the plane, we had to go through immigration. While Kim was able to get through immigration, they wouldn’t let me through. They wanted me to show them my return ticket to go back home to the states. I had none of this with me as it was back in Scotland because I didn’t think I needed it to get back in Scotland once I was allowed in. The immigration officer that I was dealing with was very rude and basically told me that it was my problem and I needed to show him that information and until I did that I wouldn’t be let through. He began yelling at me and Kim, who was two desks away from me, was able to hear everything he was saying to me. He told me to find a Delta Airlines desk and have them print me off an itinerary of my flight. He also said that it worried him that I was in Scotland since the beginning of January. I had no idea what to do since Delta doesn’t fly out of Heathrow so there would be no desk to go to. I ended up asking someone at British Airways and she was very helpful with everything. If it wasn’t for her I really don’t know what I would have done. The only phone number I had with me was my host families and when I tried calling I couldn’t get through. The lady helping me then went to find Kim to see if she had any numbers and she was able to give me her host families number which I got through. I also tried calling home to try and get the information faxed to me, however, my dad had it and he was out of town at the time. Kim’s host family was able to get in contact with my family and they were finally able to fax the information over. When I finally went back to immigration to show them all my information, the guy that had let Kim through now was helping me. He didn’t even look at the information! After missing my flight and going through all the hassle he wouldn’t even look at it and he knew everything that I had gone through because he asked if I was with Kim. After finally getting through I was met by Kim who had cancelled her spot on our previous flight and we were able to fly back to Edinburgh together and I was never happier to be back in Scotland than I was then. That was probably one of the worst experiences I’ve had in traveling and I hope I never have to go through something like that again. It will definitely be something I will remember forever and hopefully in the future actually be able to laugh about it. Hopefully we have better luck this weekend. Kim and I are meeting up with Kim’s family in Edinburgh for the weekend. On Saturday we will be taking a bus tour to Loch Ness and spending the day there. I’m very excited for this and know it will be a good weekend.

February 16

It seems like such a long time since I’ve last written a blog! Well, half-term break is over and we’re back to school. We began the short week with some writing, in which we continued with creative and imaginative writing. I told the students about an incident that happened to me at the airport over the break and they then used the setting of an airport to begin their writing piece. They have come such a long way with their writing and each piece seems to be getting better and better. Because in the next week or two we will be moving on to look at poetry I did a grammar lesson on similes and metaphors and how and why writers and poets use them in their writing. The students seemed to grasp it all and were even able to come up with many of their own similes and metaphors. Before break I had done an REM lesson on respect and was very surprised by the results. Yesterday Mrs. Higson and I actually went to the other P7 class and taught this same lesson together. It was very interesting because even though the classes are the same age group, the answers were completely different and the maturity levels of the class were definitely shown. In maths we moved on to using centimeters and meters in calculations. We began on Wednesday with basic conversions from centimeters to meters and then meters to centimeters. Yesterday we moved on a bit to begin measuring the perimeter of objects and today some of the students continued to look at perimeter while some that have picked up on it quickly have gone on to area. Wednesday and Thursday we have also been finishing up and practicing for our Shakespeare productions and I have actually already videotaped two groups already and they both were great. Today we started off the day with more Shakespeare and then went into some more writing. We finished off the day and the week by doing some observational drawings and then having a work time where some groups were able to finish their Chaucer characters and others were able to practice their Shakespeare plays.
Now, I wish the week could have been that easy. Kim and I had a great time in London and Paris. It was everything I thought and more. One of my favorite things that I saw was the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace in London. I had heard so much about it and was so happy that we were able to see it. We took the Big Bus Tour and was able to see all the great sites throughout London. We stayed in Kensington where there seems to always be something going on. From London we went to Paris and had a fabulous time as well. The first day was spent at the Eiffel Tower and other sites in Paris. I was even able to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing. The second day we went to EuroDisney and that was a lot of fun too. It was a great time and everything was flawless until coming back to Scotland. In London, right before getting on the plane, we had to go through immigration. While Kim was able to get through immigration, they wouldn’t let me through. They wanted me to show them my return ticket to go back home to the states. I had none of this with me as it was back in Scotland because I didn’t think I needed it to get back in Scotland once I was allowed in. The immigration officer that I was dealing with was very rude and basically told me that it was my problem and I needed to show him that information and until I did that I wouldn’t be let through. He began yelling at me and Kim, who was two desks away from me, was able to hear everything he was saying to me. He told me to find a Delta Airlines desk and have them print me off an itinerary of my flight. He also said that it worried him that I was in Scotland since the beginning of January. I had no idea what to do since Delta doesn’t fly out of Heathrow so there would be no desk to go to. I ended up asking someone at British Airways and she was very helpful with everything. If it wasn’t for her I really don’t know what I would have done. The only phone number I had with me was my host families and when I tried calling I couldn’t get through. The lady helping me then went to find Kim to see if she had any numbers and she was able to give me her host families number which I got through. I also tried calling home to try and get the information faxed to me, however, my dad had it and he was out of town at the time. Kim’s host family was able to get in contact with my family and they were finally able to fax the information over. When I finally went back to immigration to show them all my information, the guy that had let Kim through now was helping me. He didn’t even look at the information! After missing my flight and going through all the hassle he wouldn’t even look at it and he knew everything that I had gone through because he asked if I was with Kim. After finally getting through I was met by Kim who had cancelled her spot on our previous flight and we were able to fly back to Edinburgh together and I was never happier to be back in Scotland than I was then. That was probably one of the worst experiences I’ve had in traveling and I hope I never have to go through something like that again. It will definitely be something I will remember forever and hopefully in the future actually be able to laugh about it. Hopefully we have better luck this weekend. Kim and I are meeting up with Kim’s family in Edinburgh for the weekend. On Saturday we will be taking a bus tour to Loch Ness and spending the day there. I’m very excited for this and know it will be a good weekend.

February 6

It's a day before the half-break holiday and the kids are definitely showing it. In the P7 classroom, the week has been dedicated to finishing working on their Shakespeare presentations. The students are very excited because after all their hard work they will finally be able to present them to the rest of the class, as well as to the other P7 class. Yesterday we did a little comprehension work, finished and typed the creative stories that they have been working on, finished our angles bit in math, and then in the afternoon they had work time for Shakespeare. Today they had gym first thing in the morning, and then we did D.O.L and some grammar. After that I continued with their RE unit in which we are focusing on respect for others and the community. For this, I told them that Earth was becoming overpopulated and we needed to create a new planet. This new planet would be just like Earth in terms of environment, climate, and animals, the only difference is there would be no people. I then told them to choose groups and gave them descriptions of 20 different people, all having different occupations, ages, and abilities. With these, each group was to decide what 10 people should go and start a new community on this new planet. They had a lot of fun with this, but were also very thoughtful in who they would pick. We then talked about the reasons why each group chose certain people and the response was because of their strengths and abilities. I then asked each person to tell me one of their strengths and weakness. It was interesting because when asking this, most of the students had an answer such as "I'm good at Playstation" which wasn't an answer that I thought would be classified as a strength. Being with this class for 5 weeks now I'm not at all surprised by this response. When we come back from half-term I will be doing this same lesson to the other P7 class to see if the responses will be the same or different. Both P7 teachers are also interested in seeing what happens because the demeanor of the classes is so different.

Well, Kim and I are off to London tomorrow night. We are very excited! We will be staying in London for 4 nights and then traveling to Paris for 2 nights. Many of the teachers here have given us a lot of advice as to what sites we should see so we have lots of places to go to. It should be a great time!

February 2

Well I’ve had quite the week! In school we’ve been continuing to do a lot work with creative writing. The students are focusing on writing imaginative stories but basing them on things that they know a lot about. This allows them to give more details throughout the story. We’ve also been able to type our next pen pal letters out. They are really excited about these letters because we’ve attached pictures of them and they were also to attach various pictures of Scotland, Duns, and their school and classroom. In maths we’ve been continuing to work on angles, particularly measuring angles and finding the missing angle in circles and rectangles. They have, along with the other P7 maths groups, been working extremely hard this last week so we decided to have a fun maths class today. During this time, the students were able to play various math games or create pictures or models using different mathematical techniques. The kids really enjoyed this. This morning we did another D.O.L lesson and then both P7's had a Golden Time assembly in which they are rewarded for good behavior. This afternoon we played our Environmental Studies game, this week with United States questions. They came up with some great questions! This whole week many of the students have come up to me to tell me their questions. They are so proud of them! I’m very happy that they’ve been so engaged in learning about Wisconsin and the United States. After this, the students had their Golden Time for the rest of the day. Next week will be a short week because of the long break the school has. I will be continuing to do comprehension lessons and I will be taking on the RE (morals) lesson for the week. We are also going to wrap up our Shakespeare unit and possibly present the skits and puppet shows that they have been working on.

Yesterday morning I actually had to miss the first hour of school because I had to go to the doctor. For the last week I’ve had a really bad cold which has developed into a bad ear infection. For the past 3 days my left ear has been completely plugged up and I can’t hear anything out of it. This got to be very annoying so I went and got it checked out yesterday. She told me it was infected and if it wasn’t for it being so plugged up it would be very painful. I have antibiotics to clear it up, however, she said that it may take 6 weeks for it to become unplugged!
This weekend is going to be another relaxing one. On Saturday my host family is taking Kim and me to a ceilidh, which is something like a dance. I believe there will be a Scottish dinner, Scottish dancing, and then a silent auction. It should be a lot of fun!