RCOE International Student Teaching Spring 08

I have made it to Ireland after a long plane ride. The weather is very cold here! The country is beautiful. The people here are very helpful and very nice everywhere you go. I went to Paris for six days. It was beautiful and an exciting trip, I learned a lot about the history of Paris which I loved. After coming back to Ireland on Sunday before school started it was good to be back in Ireland where you speak the same language as they do!

Kill O the Grange school was wonderful. I love it and all the children already! I am in a first grade class. With twenty-seven children in it. Which is a lot bigger than our classrooms in America. They speak proper English and have a very wide range of vocabulary for first grade. The students even seem to have higher reading level than students in an American first grade class.

The teachers are not as strict in Ireland about talking in class. The students are given more activities that allow them to talk and interact with each other. The teachers get to have a lunch break plus an extra tea and coffee break. The children get to go outside twice a day after snack and after lunch. This gives the children more time to get out the energy that they have built up sitting in class. I have not seen any discipline problems so far in the classroom like we have in America.

The family that I am staying with are very nice people. They have helped me tremendously. The culture of Ireland as a whole I would say is much more relaxed than American culture. They go with the flow more and don't worry about things as much as we do. Therefore, you can see this also in the classroom with the teachers and the students. Ireland is great and I cant wait to learn more about the culture and their curriculum and teaching in the school.

After a very exciting and busy week in Paris, I am now back in Ireland. Our travels were safe and Paris was unforgettable.

My host family is fabulous. I missed them when I was in Paris. I was very happy to see them when I arrived yesterday morning.

TEACHING: Today was my first day at Kill O' the Grange School and it was absolutely lovely. I made a list of all the differences I noticed. The differences follow.

-The students are allowed talk and wiggle much more here than in America.
-The English language is taught the way it is spoken; therefore, it's very different from American English.
-Teachers get an additional break for coffee and tea (essential of course).
-The average number of students in a classroom is thirty-seven. I have thirty-one in my class.
-Because of the Irish spoken English, every subject has its subtle differences. For example, they use the term "bundle" for an amount of ten. I've used the word bundle before but did not know it was an official word given to a specific amount. These are just subtleties that I noticed today.
-They also teach the traditional Irish Language. I found this particularly interesting because I've never heard it spoken or seen it in writing. With my background in English I hope to learn as much as I can in five weeks about their language.

Things are off to a brilliant start. I am so happy to be here and to have been given this opportunity. It is a truly mind opening experience and I know I will bring these influences into my own classroom. I have uploaded just a few pictured I took in Paris, but I have not taken any in Ireland. I will upload those soon.

I arrived in Dublin Thursday morning and immediately caught a bus south to be picked up by my family and taken to Delgany and Greystones which is literally right on the water. My family is amazing and I enjoy the conversation we have while traveling or cooking dinner. I took the Dart into Dublin city on Friday where my host family's youngest son, Alexander, his friend, and
I went to see the Book of Kels and Trinity College as well as Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral. Saturday Muriel (my host mother),Alyson (her daughter), and I went to the Irish countryside of County Carlow where I met Muriel's extended family. We spent time on her brother's farm and at his riding stables. I've done a bit of traveling in Europe elsewhere but nothing has been quite so picturesque as the gardens and fields near to Mount Leinster.

...
The school I'm working at is one half of the complex of Rathdown School. I will be working with girls in the junior schools from KG1 to P6. Their organization of grade levels are a bit different from what I'm accustomed to. KG1 caters to three and four year olds, KG2 to four and five year olds, and KG3 to five and six year olds. Then there are the P1 through P6 where the oldest children in P6 are eleven and twelve years of age. Rathdown appears to be somewhat different from the other schools where international student teachers are paced. In fact, I'm the first for the school. They're a private school that boards students from around the globe.

As far as their teaching strategies and methods are concerned, the teachers are responsible for one class and teach that specific class every subject. There is a specialist who comes in for music, drama, and P.E. but not for art. The older girls will go to the senior school to take art classes.

The teachers in this school seem to be much tougher on the girls as far as standards for behavior and presentation are concerned. The school not only provides for their education but also seems to be a place where etiquette and proper finishing is important. In the classes I've observed thus far, I've yet to see a girl cry from falling in the school yard, not share or fall back in a chair. I've found American teachers to have a sort of authoritative informality with their students. Here the teachers have a more formal and respectful relationship with their students.

My position in the school will serve as a sort of art liaison for all the teachers as needed, since the teachers are responsible for the art activities in their class. Already I've helped paint King Tut's mask and given suggestions on how to properly paper maché the Nile Delta and the Valley of the Kings. The curriculum is based on a state standard set up by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. I look forward to utilizing my knowledge and standards to learn from and teach to the many ages of girls I'll encounter at Rathdown.

Okay, I only counted thirty-nine, feel kinda jipped!

After a very rough plan ride/airport experience/customs troubles/missing baggage, my luggage and I finally got here--not at the same time, of course, because that's just too easy!

And I love it. I'm pretty sure I'm moving here when I marry into money!

My host family are the nicest people on the planet. They both teach at Kill o' the Grange(Annabelle is with Mr. Malseed.) so they are quite a good resource for asking about schools. I am also their tenth exchange student so they are quite versed on normal procedures and don't mind me asking one zillion questions whenever they are around.

I started school Monday at Scoil Mhuire (prounounced "skull wiruh",) a Catholic primary school in a disadvantaged neighborhood just around the corner. I feel very out of place, being secondary education and definitely not Catholic, but I am doing the best I can. I am the first American exchange student that the school has hosted so the teachers and I have decided that I will design a few units based on something distinctly American and I will go around to the upper classes and teach it. I am also going to teach a bit of Spanish and music to my kids.

I very much like their school system. The students start language learning in early primary school and one teacher teaches all subjects, even art, music, physical education, etc. They don't appear to get as in-depth as one might expect with the arts, but it makes for a more interesting and lively school day. Students also begin at age four but have a shorter school day overall.

Anyway, the batteries in my camera have died so pictures will have to wait til I get new batteries.

Word of the day - "pants" (means "underwear", "trousers" means "pants." Very costly mistake.)

til next week -

Cheyenne

This picture was taken in Dun Laoghire (pronounced Dun Leary). Lindsay and I occasionally pop into this town after school. They have a little ice cream shop there called Teddy's. We've been told by the locals that they serve the best ice cream in Ireland. It's pretty amazing.

Life at Kill O' the Grange is wonderful. I am currently working in the 4th class and the students are fantastic. I will be incorporating a book I've just read, called "In Deep Dark Wood"into their English lessons throughout the rest of the week. This book is written by an Irish author, so I will be excited at the prospect of using it either at home or in class in the furture. I will be in the 5th class starting next week. They have me moving around quite a bit, but it's great. I am excited about working with all the different teachers and students.

I've also been able to spend some time at Trinity College. I saw a film there last night and I've met several college students who attend the university. That is where this picture was taken.

Overall, things are wonderful and I'm looking forward to the next four weeks.

This week has been great! I have learned so much from all the children. I love this school and all the children. The schools are much different here than they are in America.

The children have art, computer lab, library, and drama weekly but the teacher takes them to the designated rooms and teaches them in those areas. When the students go to physical education and music the teacher goes with them to help the physical education and music teacher. The school also includes religion in their curriculum. I am with a relatively new teacher, which is nice because I can relate to her very well.

I have realized that words and sayings I use have different meanings to the people here in Ireland. I can tell when the children give me a blank look that they don't understand. I know that this is a language barrier so I try to say things in a different way so they will understand it.

I have come to realize how hard it could be for a student to come into a country where they don’t know how to speak the language. I speak the same language as they do here and different meanings and accents can still be confusing.

One of my friends from home came to see me this weekend. It was a great surprise! We toured Dublin on Friday after school and all day Saturday. I learned a great deal about the history and culture of the city through the guided tours that we took.

On Sunday we went to the Wicklow Mountains which are close to where I live. We took a guided tour there. The mountains were beautiful! I learned a lot about the country side and the farmers on this tour. On the tour we had a great traditional Irish meal. I am learning more than I could have imagined about a different place and different culture!

Okay, I posted this entire blog but somehow it vanished, so here goes again...

I am on my second week here, and I find it just as gorgeous as I did the first. Lindsay, Annabelle and I went into Dublin City today, and really, the town couldnt be more wonderful or the people more awesome. They are so ridiculously nice here.

I am also in my second week at the school, which is interesting. I am teaching a unit to the upper classes on the wild west, which they are really enjoying. I am also doing a music lesson and a drama lesson tomorrow so that'll be neat too. Scoil Mhuire has never hosted an American student so I am quite the rockstar, and it`s very flattering. They all want me to talk "like a cowgirl" (Should have sent Lindsay there; they would have LOVED her.)

This weekend we are going on two paddywagon tours--one to Belfast and one to the Giants Causeway. It should a full and exhausting couple of days. I hope to bring back excellent news and stories. Now I`m gonna see if I can upload a few pictures.

School is going well thus far. My school doesn't have an art program so I've found my self spending a lot of time planning art activities for the few minutes a day that each class does "arts and crafts."

I got in contact with the senior school next door and met the art teachers there. So two or three times a week I go to the senior school, where they're doing ceramics, which is my specialty, and work in those classes. I'm planning a mural in the 'hall' of the junior school which is basically the cafeteria. It is a spring scene and each class will contribute to some aspect of the mural. The P2s have made butterflies with tissue paper and the KG2s have made birds with feathery wings. Today I'm participating in the faculty vs P6 netball game which brings back flashbacks of the faculty basketball game I played, or attempted to, at Ashe County Middle School.

All the ASU girls, plus two girls from other universities, went to Belfast and the Giant's Causeway this weekend. It was absolutely amazing.

One of the many famous murals in Belfast depicting 'the troubles'

In the botanical gardens of Queen's University

The Carrick-a-rede rope bridge

The Giant's Causeway

Sign entering "Free Derry" where the people claimed they were free from British rule

I finished my work with the 4th class on Friday and then headed off to Northern Ireland for the weekend. It was a very educational trip. We stayed in Belfast for only one day and then visited the Giant's Causeway on the second day. I learned about an Irish Giant by the name of Finn Maccoul. Apparently he's responsible for the basalt formations, not volcanic activity, at the causeway. I'll be sure to tell that story to my science students back home!

I also learned about the Troubles. I will admit that you can read a hundred books about this, but there's nothing quite like being there to see things for yourself. I had heard and read about the Troubles, but when I was actually in Belfast and Derry, I really got a feel for what actually happend there, and to a much lesser extent, still appears to happen today.

I am now working in 5th class and have much to prepare for the rest of the week. Things at the school are fabulous. I love it here. I will be reading another novel to use in the 5th class called "Duck and Swan", and I'll be doing a few demonstrations regarding heat and friction for the science class.

This week was just great! I have been teaching English and science in my classroom.

In my class when I was student teaching in the states I had the children write letters to the children in Ireland. By doing this they could have a pen pal. I told my class in Ireland about this and they loved the idea. Both of the classes were really excited! First, I had each student read the letter they got to the class. Then, I taught them how to write a letter. Next, the students began writing. Hopefully, by the end of this week the children will be finished with the letters, and I can mail them back to the students in the States!

This weekend was wonderful! I went with three girls from Appalachian and two other girls from the U. S., who are also teaching in Dublin, to Belfast, Derry, and the Giants Causeway. The Giants Causeway is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and I got to see it on a beautiful sunny day.

I learned a great deal about the history of Belfast and Derry. And also, I learned about things that are happening today in those cities. Derry and Belfast are full of history!! The Giants Causeway, as the Irish would say, was "absolutely gorgeous"!!

Another exciting week in Dublin has flown by. I am learning and experiencing more than I ever thought about this country and its culture!!!

Last weekend five of the American girls and I went on a couple of tours up to Northern Ireland, into Belfast and over to the Giant`s Causeway.

We had to be in Dublin by 8 a.m., which meant leaving at six-thirty because the train comes seldom that early on a Saturday.

Ireland is incredibly small, and it probably doesn`t take five hours to drive from the northern most tip to the southern most one. On the way north, we stopped to see St. Peter's Church, a fairly famous church where St. Oliver Plunkett's head rests (Seriously, it`s just his head, and it`s sitting out for people to see.)

We then went to an ancient Celtic graveyard with HUGE Celtic crosses. Some were more than two stories high, and it was quite beautiful.

We got into Belfast and took a taxi tour of areas important to the Catholic-Protestant troubles.

We then walked around Belfast for awhile, seeing churches, schools, the botanical gardens, pubs, etc.

In the morning we got up super early again and went to the Giants Causeway. I really can't explain it in words. It`s basically a place where square and hexagonal columns raise up naturally out of the sea near the beach. On the way there we stopped at this neat rope-bridge built between the mainland and a little island. We were so far north that one could actually see Scotland. We then went to the causeway, and on to Derry, a decent-sized city in N. Ireland that was a site of much of the bloodshed during the troubles.

St. Peter's Church--

Our tour guide was the son of the mayor from the early 1990's so he gave us a first-hand account of what it was like to grow up in such an area.

This week is going to be exciting. I'm going to be teaching the 6th class, which I'm really looking forward to because they are basically middle school students - as opposed to the 4th and 5th class I've been working with. I really loved working with the younger grades. I've made some good friends with the students and their families and will be attending a hockey match on Wednesday to see all the boys play. The possibility of me staying in Ireland to babysit one of my fourth grade students has also been mentioned. This will probably not happen, but it's still fun to think about!

Over the weekend, I visited Kilmainham Gaol (the jail in Dublin) where many people were put to death over the years. The jail is full of history. During the tour, I was both disturbed and fascinated at the same time. My visit to the jail couldn't have happened at a better time because I will be teaching the 6th class about a book called, The Guns of Easter, by Gerard Whelan. This book is about The Easter Rising of 1916, and many of the Irish Republicans who were responsible for this event were hamged at this jail I visited.

On Friday of last week, Lindsay and I taught the 3rd and 4th class about cowboys. The Irish are fascinated with anything dealing with the Wild West and Native American history, so Lindsay showed them a powerpoint presentation of pictures her Dad took on his latest journey, on horeback, through the mountains of North Carolina and Virgina. The video was accompanied with country music, which the students really liked. They sat in awe and had many questions to ask afterwards.

Overall, things are fabulous here. I love Ireland.

Ireland, Ireland, I love this place except the weather!! It's so cold and wet it kind of reminds me of Boone but colder. This week, because of this cold wet weather ,I got really sick. I got some kind of respiratory infection and had to go to the doctor.

On Friday of last week Annabelle and I went into a third grade class and taught. I liked the change from first grade class. I did miss my children in first grade though. This class also was fascinated by my accent and my dad. The news about my dad has spread throughout the school and all the students are intrigued that he is a cowboy and rides horses. I showed the class a PowerPoint of pictures of one of my dad's packing trips that he goes on yearly. The students were amazed and loved the show!

This weekend I went to the Kilmainham Gaol to visit. I have a real love for history and this country is full of it. Kilmainham Gaol is where the people who helped with the 1916 "rising" were held until they were executed. The Easter 1916 "rising" was when Ireland rebelled for independence. Here at the jail we took a guided tour. We saw where the men were kept and where they were executed. The jail also has a museum inside. The museum had letters the men wrote to their families and loved ones before they were to be executed.

One man named Oliver Punklett wrote a letter to his love asking her hand in marriage. She came to the jail and they were married inside the jail. After they were married, they had ten minutes with each other before he was executed. The ten minutes they had with each other were in a jail cell with two guards.

Susan is my host mother and her father has given me copies of journals that were written by his father that recorded and discussed some of the events of The Rising. He has also given me copies of newspaper ads of this time. I am fascinated by all of this history that lives in this country!! I am learning more everyday about the history of Ireland. I love having talks with my host family after dinner about Irish history. I have learned so much about the fighting that used to go on in the North and why they were actually fighting.

I can’t believe how fast the time has flew by for me. This week I'm sure will be another exciting week!!

This is a picture of me in one of the nicer jail cells.

This was the letter that was written to the lady asking to her to marry him.

The last two days have been quite eventful for me at Scoil Mhuire. Over the weekend, the school was vandalized, so Monday morning there were several classrooms with broken windows and one in particular that was unusable because of shattered glass. The vandals didn't take anything; it appeared to be purely an act of malice. So the sixth class had to double up for the day so that the jr. infants (four- and five-year-olds) could have their own classroom.

Then the jr. infants' teacher had to go somewhere, and they called me in to mind the class. (I'm kind of the do-everything girl; I get volunteered to help out wherever and whenever they need me.) Here they are.

Then yesterday I went with the 3rd class to another local school called Rathdown, where an artist has come in the past couple weeks to work with the kids in making mosaics. They have hundreds of pieces of colored tile, and a picture of a sea scene was drawn onto a sheet of paper. The paper was then divided up and each group worked on a section of the mosaic separately, cutting and fitting the pieces of tile until they fit without touching. It is going in the train station when it's finished; I just hope they finish it before I leave so I can get a picture. Here we are working on the parts.

The weeks are flying by! It's been interesting trying to adapt in my school because I'm a 'specialized teacher' as they would call it. I'm an art education major.

It just so happens I'm in a school with no art program and no room in the curriculum for any specific time given to art. So it's been a struggle to find places where I'm needed! I've instead been creating collaborative projects, not only in individual classes but in the school as a whole.

I've been working on a mural where each class in the school can contribute a piece.

I'm finishing up a mural in the hall (or cafeteria) of my school and spending time in the senior school (our sort of high school equivalent) working with girls getting ready for their big national test and critique in art. On Thursday they were given their big portfolios to put all their work in to be graded by a national supervisor. It's a bit like the EOG's in North Carolina but for art. I thought that was really cool.Things have been going very well overall and now we're counting down the days until I head back across the big fish bowl.

Some girls from the other universities in Ireland and I went to a famous pub called Johnnie Foxes where we heard great live music, saw Irish dancing and ate amazing food. I struck up a conversation with one of the more attractive dancers and he told me that he toured with Riverdance and that their choreographer does Riverdance as well. My friend Katie and I both got pulled up on stage to dance in front of the large crowd of people enjoying the show.

This past week was great. I worked with the 6th class and taught a few lessons about a book they are reading (The Guns Of Easter). They have been a pleasure to work with as have been all the other classes at Kill O' the Grange. I also attented the 6th class field hockey tournament on Wednesday of last week. A mother and coach, who was heavily involved with the field hockey teams, passed away in November of last year with cancer. In an effort to remember her the field hockey league has decided to hold a tournament every year in her name. I attended this tournament and it was really fun to see the boys from the school play. I also met their families which was also very good.

Last week in 6th class Mr. Malseed and I taught a lesson on bridges and the physics behind their design. I showed the class a video of the Tacoma Bridge collapse and then the students proceeded to design their own bridge using two pieces of paper. Mr. Malseed and I walked around the room to see whose bridge was the strongest. The students were fascinated with the video and they enjoyed the challenge of figuring out which of their designs would be the strongest. I enjoyed watching them learn from their mistakes. The best and strongest design came from two boys who tried over and over again to figure it out. They finally did, and the picture of their bridge is below.

Lindsay and I have also managed to do a little bit more travelling. We visited the Aran Islands and stayed in Galway for the night with a friend from Galway University. It was "grand" - although we do need to work on our Irish. And we were also lucky enough to have been asked to go fly fishing with my host dad and his buddy. That was one of the best times I've had so far.

I'm starting off this week well. Yesterday the sun was out and it made for a beautiful day to spend at the shore enjoying the calm water of the Irish Sea. A lot of families come down on pretty days with their kids and their dogs and just let the lot of them run freely on the beach. There's also a lot of people out sailing, kayaking and swimming.

I'm going to France this weekend for a little beach holiday of my own. Two girls from another university are going with me. It should be a grand experience.

Today in school I finished a project with the P2 girls where we created a collaborative still life collage. We looked at famous still life images through art history and made a list of items we would put in our own still life image. In the end the class ended up making a collage of their own drawn images of fruits and veggies and other items. My mural in the hall/cafeteria is almost done. I'm waiting for one more class to finish up and then that will be done just in time for me to leave Rathdown!

I really like working with the young girls. In that same P2 class I've been tutoring girls with their 'maths' as they call it. Tomorrow I'll be in the senior school working with the 3rd Class girls getting ready for their "Junior Cert." which is basically a big exam. The girls are preparing all the work they've done over the term to be checked by state examiners.

My parents come next Thursday, a day or so after I get back from France (Next week is a holiday.) We've made plans to hit up some touristy areas but spend a lot of time in the country as well. I'm pleased to be here with my family seeing this beautiful country.

The Nile project I'm working on with P3




The hallway we like to call "The M-50"... the main highway around Dublin

The senior school





Spring has sprung!

Another week in Ireland has been wonderful! I am just learning and experiencing more than I ever thought I would. The kids are great at Kill O the Grange!! This week the kids played a football game and they were so cute. We all had fun! The staff at the school are great as well and so helpful.

I just can’t get over the children at my school. They are all so well behaved and well mannered. Never have I seen a child talk back to a teacher or any adult in the school. They are such sweet and caring children. This week I went into the fourth class half a day to teach. It was a last minute notice, but I learned to get something together fast. It worked out great and the kids enjoyed the activity I had them do. It was good to look back and see that I can think quickly on my feet when teaching and come up with an activity when I didn't have a notice. It was a great teaching experience that worked out.

Friday was the last day for one of the girls in my class. Her family is moving to the Northern part of Ireland. It was a sad day in my class on Friday for the kids. Most children here don't move schools at all. It is a rare occasion that children move from school to school like they do in America.

This weekend Annabelle and I went to the Galway and one of the Aran Islands. The Aran Islands were so nice and pretty!! The people living on the islands are paid government supplements to live on the islands and speak the Irish language to keep it alive. Everything including all food and gas are shipped onto the islands. Their only way of making money on the islands is the tourist. It was a great get away place. We biked around the island. It was so pretty and peaceful.

Sunday Annabelle and I went fishing on the Slaney River for salmon and trout. It was a lot of fun. We had such pretty weather to go fishing. The only thing that didn't go so well for me was that I dropped my video camera in the river! (Its still not working and I'm hoping that it will dry out and I got stung by a poisonous weed!) This week we have also visited Malihide Castle, Howth, and we went on a Viking Splash tour in Dublin. This was so funny we got to wear Viking hats as we toured around Dublin learning the history of the city during the Viking settlement.

This week will be my last in the schools. It will be a sad week. I am going to miss the staff and the children in my class. I can’t believe that the time has almost come to an end.

On tuesday the fifth class had a sports day in which everyone who participated in the after school sports program got to go to University College of Dublin and do a full day of sports activities, including a climbing wall, archery, rugby, soccer, golf and some mutant form of volleyball. I did every sport full-out with the kids, and they cheered for me through rugby because I told them I would never even seen the sport played before! It was lots of fun, the kids loved it, and we were all sent home with food and prizes. Very nice.

Tomorrow is my last day of class and I am very sad, my kids are so amazing, I love them so much. I'm even known around the school in classes I've never been in, and it's so nice to get that sort of community feeling from these small schools.

I stayed home this past weekend. I plan on taking a few touristy tours this weekend - I hear there's a viking tour with a dual land/sea vehicle! Way cool.

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.

My last day of school was this past Friday. It was a pretty strange experience. Though I've only been at the school for five weeks it feels like I'd been there forever and I was closing a sort of chapter in my life. We started off Friday like usual with assembly and a short sermon by the Reverend for the school. After that I spent the morning with the KG2 girls.

I had a bit of free time around break so I went outside and watched the girls play one last time. A lot of them came up to me to tell me they'd miss me and that I should take them to America. I mentioned that it would be hard to fit all of those girls in my suitcase without drawing some suspicion.

I went to the P3 girls class next where they had planned a surprise for me. Everyone had made cards and signed everyone of them thanking me for my hard work and for helping them on the Egyptian project, which was their unit while I was there. Most of the cards had American flags on them and I got a kick out of one that had a flag with the stripes where the stars go and the stars where the stripes go. Most of them said they loved America and would come visit me. I was tickled that they'd gone to the effort and made sure I thanked them individually.

The KG2 teacher was always asking me for ideas for young girls as far as art projects are concerned so I compiled a list of ideas as well as resources for her to use to create projects for her girls. I snuck it into her box as a kind of secret thank you for allowing me to spend as much time as I did with her class.

I did my last lesson with the P2 girls which has been one of my 'projects' while at the school. Every Friday I take their class and do some sort of art project that invites them to be creative and break out of their routine for the week. This week we created fantastic beasts. I think I'll miss the girls spelling out the words on the board as I write the project for the day. Each girl picked four different colored cards and on each card was written an animal or creature or even something a bit sillier like a robot, snowman or pickle. They had to create a creature that had traits from all four of the things on the cards, give it a name, and create a habitat for the creature to live in. Needless to say, I got a lot of really hilarious takes on the assignment and no one creature was the same as the others. The girls really enjoyed the project as well and were so enthusiastic about sharing it with me.

At the end of the day I gave a card to Mrs. O'Neill, my principal, thanking her for the experience and letting her know how grateful I was to be taken in the school, even though my teaching style and philosophy seemed so different from the standard there. It was a bit surreal walking out the school across the grounds at the end of the day knowing that my student teaching experience was now over and that I am now very much an adult and ready to take on teaching in my own class.

I spent the weekend and Monday and Tuesday in Nice, France, Monaco and Italy (for lunch) with two other girls from Minnesota who I've become close to throughout this trip. We reflected a lot on our experiences, shared or unique and really came to terms with the experience winding down. My parents come tomorrow from Pennsylvania so I'm not out of Ireland yet... you'll see one more post from me... but it's with a sort of calm reverence that I finish up my last week and a half in Ireland, with all that's happened in the school and with my host family behind me.

the finished bulletin board/mural



P2 hard at work


two P2 girls



one of the fantastic beasts, a starfish pigeon robot bug

It's hard for me to believe, but tonight is my last night in Ireland. I know I'm really going to miss the people I've met. I've finished my work in the school and was very sad to have to say goodbye. The school said goodbye to Lindsay and me during assembly and we kindly thanked them for giving us the opportunity to work in their school. I think they were sad to see us go.

The school gave us a very nice going away present and I have every intention of keeping in touch with some of the teachers I worked with. I'm going to email them asking for advice and ideas when I start teaching this year. And as for my Irish family, I'm going to miss them terribly. I'm quite emotional about it really and I think we are all in agreement on one thing - my coming back to visit.

Here are a few more pictures from the school and my latest trip to Killarney National Park. Goodbye Ireland and I hope to see you again.

As I'm sure you may already know, potatoes are pretty important to the Irish. This is a picture of 4th class maintaining their potato plant which is for a potato growing contest. The plant's name is Spud Bob.

Killarney National Park. Absolutely gorgeous.