First Impressions

April 22, 2018

First Impressions

So, after a long traveling weekend (27 hours), we finally made it to DERBYSHIRE!!! Getting off the plane, we met up with our U.K. supervisor and met our host families. It took us so long to get through customs in the English airports, that our host families thought we got detained (lol but not really).

But - let me tell you about my first week! After getting on the plane(s), we landed in Brussels at 7 a.m. Sunday morning (2 a.m. Louisville time). We had not really slept, so we were all exhausted but we were thrilled to be there. We could not decide what to do - do we stay in the airport for a 12 hour layover, or carry everything we have - plus our very tired bodies - out into Brussels to look around. So we decided to go look around. We had some trouble renting a locker at the airport, and they kept rejecting the Euro coins we gave them, so we almost gave up - but then had a breakthrough. We then took a train into the city and got to explore everything Belgium has to offer. It was a great experience, but we could have been a little more enthusiastic if we were well rested. We almost all slept on the 30 minute train ride back to the airport, so then when we got back to the airport - we had to stake out a place to sleep. We ended up sleeping on a hard floor, very soundly, for about an hour. It was then about 3 p.m. So we had to kill four hours, but we FINALLY got on the plane to England, and made it! Woohoo!

We were extremely jet lagged, and we had to go to school the next morning. Safe to say we went to bed around 8:30 that night. When we woke up and got to school, we entered our host father's school that he works at, and hung around him for about an hour or two. At about 9:00 a.m., we met up with Sarah Emmerson (U.K. supervisor) again and got the details of the school we are placed at. We ran through all the details, then walked over to school and met everybody. We were introduced to the Head Teacher (the Principal) and walked around through most of the classrooms. On Monday and Tuesday, I was with Year 4 (third grade), on Wednesday we went back to meet with our supervisor and other training teachers for the day. On Thursday, I was with Year 5 (4th grade). And lastly, on Friday I was with Year 6 (5th grade). Truly, this week has been a mind-boggling experience!! Their schools are SO different than ours - the layout of the school, how they do lunch and recess, and even dismissal.

The students arrive at 8:45, and play/hangout on the playground until their teacher retrieves the whole class. They come into class, get situated, and then begin working on either English or math - and then the opposite. The students then (depending on the day of the week) get a 30 minute break (recess), or a 15 minute assembly, then 15 minutes of play time. The teachers just dismiss the class to go and get that time to themselves. They then come back in, and have an hour of work - then have an HOUR for lunch. An HOUR!!! I could not believe it when they told me to come back an hour later. Truly, it was wonderful. And the way those kids work is beyond me - none of the classes had extensive behavior issues, they all followed directions the first time they were asked (imagine that??), and they all loved being at school.

Moving on to the actual week - Monday and Tuesday, when I was with 3rd grade, I had a blast with those kids. We worked on writing and then we moved on to math and they loved how I helped them. I learned so many new techniques for teaching, and watched so many interesting processes of learning. On Thursday, when I was with 4th grade, I had the BEST day! In the morning they were writing an argumentative piece, and man can those kids argue. They all wanted my help and waved their hands in the air like mad-men (I felt so appreciated). We then worked on converting fractions to decimals and whole numbers. It was so interesting to see how teachers in other countries do the things we do back in the United States. In the afternoon, we made BREAD. Like, full-blown made bread. And they got to add what they wanted to it. It was SO good, and we had the best time doing that and we all had fun in the huge mess. On Friday, when I was with 5th grade, they wrote non-chronological reports, then practiced skills for their SATs (not S-A-Ts, a middle school placement test) then ended the day with fencing. Really, what they do at these schools is phenomenal when it comes to specials. And, this week I am going to be with primary grades and see a whole new group of kids. I am so excited and so thankful to be on this trip!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to read my novel, I'll attach a few pictures at the bottom!

Johanna