NO TIME!

Wow so I cannot believe a whole week has almost past and I haven't updated my blog, time just flies here. It has been almost three weeks since I have arrived in Grahamstown.  I was looking at the calendar when meeting with my teacher and there really seems to be like no time left here!

Teaching has been going so well.  I feel like I am really finally connecting with the students and I am starting to feel more and more comfortable in the school.  I introduced the concept of Flat Stanley to my class and came up with a way from my current class to keep in touch with my class back in Amery.    The plan is for the students to take an adventure with Stanley, journal about the experience, and then attach a picture to the journal entry.  Then we are going to send the whole journal to my class back in Amery!  My students are sooo excited about Stanley! They have already made him a girlfriend, a cat, some bowling balls, a fish tank, a couch, and they are working on his twin!  They have already take Stanley on some adventures and journaled about their experience.  The adventures have been really awesome so far!

I have my observed lesson next week, which I am very nervous about but I am teaching the lesson to the other 4th grade first so I can tweak it and improve it for my observed lesson.  Next week is my last week in the 4th grade and then I am actually moving to the 5th grade classroom.  While in the 5th grade classroom I am going to try and teach more math to both 5th grades and some 6th and 7th grade classes as well.  The teachers have mentioned me being able to teach a lesson in their class, so I am going to be proactive and try to teach math across the grades.  I just feel that if my minor is in mathematics I should have more experience teaching it, especially if I get certified up to 8th grade.

Last Friday, we went to a concert, Piano Man, it was AMAZING! I was surprised how much I enjoyed the concert, for I have never been one to willingly go to a strictly instrument music concert, but it was so good.  I was really impressed.  It was also a fundraiser for three schools in the area (including my school), so that was really neat.

On Saturday we went to the swimming gala in Port Elizabeth.  What they call a gala we would call a meet.  It was for 4th through 7th grade and we had some swimmers compete.  It was a neat experience to spend time with the teachers and the students outside of the school day.

ALSO I met one of my students' mothers and she invited me to the game reserve they own! She also said that they would take me and the other student teachers on a helicopter ride to view the game reserve! I am sooo pumped! I hope it really works out, for I think it will be the most amazing thing ever!

Tonight we went out to Geno's restaurant and ate pizza, it was delicious.  That's pretty much it for updates.  I don't really have any pictures worth putting up here except these two of the school.  Hopefully next weekend if everything works out I will be able to put up pictures of the game reserve and helicopter ride!  I will try to update before then, but who knows? I try not to make promises I might not keep :)

I miss EVERYONE! Give me updates as well!