Today was a GREAT day!!! My new class was so wonderful and my teacher Mrs. Chase is going to be an amazing mentor. I was really nervous this morning worrying that the older students wouldn't warm up to me, that I wouldn't really fit in to help with the class, my teacher might not really want me to mess up her teaching and routines, and my old class would just forget about me.
I got to the school by 8:15 and within the next fifteen minutes I got on the bus with all the year 7 and 8 students. Every Monday these students get to go to Tech at an intermediate school. Our primary school is unique because it has students from ages 5 or Kindergarten to age 12 or seventh grade. They get the advanced subjects for their major core classes (maths, English, social studies, etc.) but the specialized classes (sewing, cooking, wood work, technology, etc.) are only offered at the intermediate schools.
I sat in the back of one of the buses with Mr. Vega (another year 7/8 teacher) and Mrs. Jones. Right away they made me feel super comfortable talking to me, telling me about the school, and asking me questions about America. Mr. Vega entertained us most of the ride as well. He is this middle aged, funny, flirty teacher that keeps everyone around him laughing.
When we got to the school I first went with a group of students and observed their cooking class. Today they were working on making biscuits or we would call them cookies! The kids worked in groups of 4 making a batch for each group. One of the biscuits they made had the special ingredient, golden syrup. We don’t have this in American but I’ll bring it home for my family to try! I got the recipe so I can try to make them sometime as well.
The cooking teacher was telling me how this kitchen was from the 1970s. She complained that other parts of the school had been redone but her kitchen was inadequate to give the students the best cooking experience. But I totally loved it. Everything was this bright pink color, it was super cute!
The next class I went and observed was sewing. The students were working on making their own bag. They had at least 12 sewing machines. One of the machines was very advanced. The students could pick any picture that they wanted and it would sew the picture onto their piece of fabric for them. The rest of the machines were able to do different patterns for sewing around the edges. The students had to learn how to cut out the pieces of fabric and sew them together to make an entire bag.
Here is a little side story about this little girl named Brooke. She is not in Mrs. Chase's class, but in another year 7/8 class. She came up to me and told me how pretty I looked. I told her that she looked very pretty today as well. She replied that no she wasn't pretty. She went on how she didn't think she was pretty at all. The way she said it just broke my heart. I reassured her again and again that she was beautiful but the self image of this little girl ans been ingrained over time. I hope that I can help her for the next 3 weeks I'm here to see how beautiful she really is. My heart hurts that any little girl at this age would have and low perspective of themselves. But I started to think about the pre-teen age and this really can be a hard time for kids, especially girls.
The third class I visited was metal workings and electricity. The students bent their own metal to make robots and put circuits in their robot to make a light turn on and off on their robot. The students had the opportunity to use some big machines to put together their creations.
This is the class that many of my students are in. Here is Riana drilling her robot.
This is Cloe with her turtle robot.
Min Guiong is from Korea. She showed me how to write my name in Korean today :)
The final class I visited today was a clay class. The students got to model the clay to make jewelry or other things that they wanted to. Once they shaped their creations they baked them in the oven to harden them.
After tech I got to do some observations of the class. Mrs. Chase is a much different teacher than the last class I was in. She doesn’t yell or get worked out about anything. She is very patient and calm. There is also a lot of organization in the class room. The students know what they need to be doing and what they should be learning. But she expects a lot out of her students, she treats them like twelve year olds that are capable of taking care of themselves. She doesn’t do anything for them that they can do their selves. The students were pretty well behaved all day. I think one of the major factors that helps this class run so well is the structural procedures. The students know how the class runs and they follow the class procedures in a certain manner. Our class also has a “girls first” motto. Mrs. Chase is big on teaching the students manners. I really like the kind of respectful atmosphere that brings to the class.
The last part of the day ended just as well as it started. Mrs. Chase and her class have been talking about the word environment and what that means. She gave me the last half hour to introduce myself and talk about the American environment that I’ve come from. I showed a map and took some time to talk about American, Utah, and the schools in Utah. I also gave the students some time to ask me questions. All of the kids were very insightful and participated very well. Next I gave them a map of the United States, where I had them locate where Utah was and I gave them a map of the entire world, where they located New Zealand and the United States of American. I really love working with this age group! This experience has been perfect! It has opened my eyes to another age group that I really connect with and feel that would be a really great age to teach in the future.
Overall I learned a lot from today! I’m excited for my continued progression as I get to stretch and grow J
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