RCOE International Student Teaching Spring 08

The last week has come. I can’t believe it. Time has pasted so quickly. Only four more days left!! Ireland has been a blast from getting to Ireland and not knowing what to expect to feeling like I belong here. This has given me a wonderful experience here in Ireland. I can’t begin to explain how much I have learned about the culture of Ireland and the way the school system works.
The school system in Ireland is much different from ours in America. Living with the host family has taught me more than anything. No travelers would have ever learned what I have without living with an Irish family. I have picked up and learned a lot about Ireland history and the culture just by living with them. This has been an experience of a life time for me. I will always have this experience with me.

I am going to miss the people here in Ireland that I have became close to and developed relationships with. I will really miss the children in my class. They have been such a joy to me. I love going to school to learn about the children just like they loved learning about me. When different people are in your surroundings you can learn so much from them just like they can learn from you. That is one thing that is standing out in my mind about this trip. I will always be more eager to learn about someone from another culture or country because they are full of fun and new exciting things that you have never experienced before.

From this trip I have come to realize that I don’t follow up on world news. I only follow the news of our own country. It surprised me that here in Ireland they follow the news around the world. So many people here know exactly what is going on with our presidential election. I could be sitting on the bus going into Dublin and two people would end up talking about our election. This surprised me. Not only do they keep up with American but they keep up with the news around the world. I didn’t realize that the dollar being so low affected the people in Ireland.
As a teacher when I have my own classroom and a student comes in from another country, I want to make them feel at home just like the people in Ireland made me feel. I want to learn from those children and I want the native children in America to also learn from children coming from other countries. People just don’t realize how much you can learn from one person if you talk to them and are interested in them and their country.

Teaching and living in Ireland has been such a wonderful experience for me. I have learned so much more than I can explain. I will always have this memory and experience for the rest of my life. I am so glad that Appalachian offers international student teaching. I
would recommend this to anyone who loves teaching and children. I am going to miss this country, the people of the country, my students, staff at school, and my host family. Everyone was so caring, loving, helpful, and such wonderful people.