December in England!!!

This is my 3rd go, so I hope it works this time! December is crazy over here too! I didn't have the decorating to do or loads of shopping, but it was still insane. To add to it all, I was battling with a cold all month that progressed into 3 things: a cold, bronchitis, and tracheitis (got honey and ice cream for that one...). I was all better by 27th December. Yeah! OK! Here goes...

Nov. 23-24 - Christmas actually started on Nov. 23rd and 24th with the Christmas lantern festivals in Devizes and Calne. I walked in the parade with Lynne Davies' family and then had dinner at her house. Then on the 24th, after watching the parade, I walked through town and ended in a church singing carols while drinking mulled wine. Yum! What a lovely idea on a cold night. Both parades ended with Father Christmas lighting the town Christmas tree in the town centres. What fun nights!

1st - synchro swimming competition in Gloucester for Alice, my friend's daughter. I went to ASDA (Walmart) for the first time and bought too much, including a fake fiber optic tree that never did work quite right.

6th - I went to the Christmas Market with Emma and Eleanor. It was raining and there was an intense windy, but we persevered and had a brilliant time. It was fun shopping at the outdoor stalls decorated for Christmas. If you saw my Christmas card, then you know what it looked like. The Abbey was beautiful at night.

7th - "Staff do" at the Chippenham Golf Club. It was a very posh night with a fab dinner and dancing! Julie, the head, even bought everyone a drink! Yum!

9th - David and Cherry took me out to dinner and to see Handel's Messiah at the Bath Theater Royal. It is one of the oldest working theatres in the UK. It sure was beautiful and an amazing treat. What a brilliant night!!

11th - School Christmas dinner - The school dinner ladies made a lovely Christmas dinner. (Thanksgiving dinner for you Americans out there...) Each plate had a Christmas cracker (a tube that pops when you pull the ends with a paper crown, a cheesy joke, and a toy inside). The music was ear-splittingly loud, and we even got a ice cream for dessert.

15th - I went back to Westonbirt Arboretum for their Enchanted Christmas with Sharon, the deputy head. They had a jazz band playing carols and roasted chestnuts, then you got to walk through the woods that were all lit up...cold, but fun!

17th - Finally went to the doctor's and was diagnosed...We also spent the next 3 days performing a Christmas play about Simeon...an old prophet waiting for the baby to come. Each class across the nation is expected to participate in a show. It's a pretty cool tradition, but a little extra stress at Christmas.

19th - class party...ask me for the scoop...

20th - The Junior kids (2nd -5th grades) went to the panto Cinderella. It's a loud interactive and often irreverent play with man who dresses like a girl somewhere in it. This one had 2...wait for it...the ugly step-sisters! The closest we come to this in the States that I've seen in the Magic Circle theater in Roseville for the school shows. It was a lot of fun, but a really late night, so Emma spent the night at my house. Oh, I almost forgot...the fairy Godmother was played by Britt Eckland (SP?) an ex-James Bond girl...still pretty! Ask me sometime about the
places we had to walk by...

24rd - 27th - The next set of day was a whirlwind of friends. Everyone over here was worried that I didn't have family over here, so they all jumped in. I think they were more worried than I was about it. Christmas Eve was at Jan's house with several other school friends and kids. Christmas day...I woke up late, made American stuffing for dinner, went to Miri's for dinner and games, oh and found out that I wasn't quite over being ill yet. I stayed home on Boxing Day and opened my presents and cards, even though Kay invited me over. I needed a day at home to
rest. The 27th, I went to Lynne's house, chatted, and watched her twin boys play with their new toys. I had a fabulous time with everyone and loved meeting all their families! It was an amazing Christmas whirlwind!

30th - I went to London to stay with Rachelle. Susan came too...We spent today touring Henry VIII's palace...Hampton Court...huge and beautiful! That night we ordered in a curry...life will never be the same. LOL!!! I am in love with chicken korma! YUM!!!!
31st - We went to the Tate and Tate Modern museums today. The Tate Modern has a giant spider sculpture that you can walk under and a huge crack in the floor...yes, a real one. They actually have signs that say that the crack is real and to take care not to fall in. =) After dinner, we walked down to Big Ben and sat across the River Thames from the London Eye. We got there at 7ish. At 9:30, they made us stand up for health and safety. It was all worth it in the end. We
had the best seats in the house as the fireworks shoot off and around the London Eye with Big Ben bonging in the background. It was literally a once in a lifetime experience. I wouldn't go again even if I lived here, but I am SUPER glad that I went this time. They advertised that all public transport would be free from 11-2 am. Unfortunately, they didn't have any buses near the Eye running, and there was only 1 tube station open. We walked through the streets of London for 2 1/2 hours with 50,000 other people after standing for several hours before we finally got a
bus to a tube station, only to find out that that tube station was closed as well and we had to hire a cab. UGH!! Like I said...a once in a lifetime event!

Thanksgiving at Lyneham Primary

It all started way back in September when I found out that the head teacher wanted cross-curricular activites for reception(pre-k) - year 6 (5th grade). Scary!!! I wrote to all the teachers in Dry Creek asking for help and files. They were very helpful, but most of the stuff was for reception - year 2. Then I surfed the net endlessly until I gathered enough information or websites for the teachers to use for planning. Next I was asked to figure out the paper order for the school to complete the painted hand turkey and the thankful turkey, and the cost of the food for the whole school. The office staff was great! They were really helpful and never said that I couldn't have anything I asked for. Pauline even went into Wooten Bassett and bought the corn meal for corn bread. They eat a lot of sweet corn (yellow corn), but cornmeal is very hard to come by...who knew?? Anyway, every thing was ordered and set to go. I put the sign-up sheet for the teacher potluck up, and Pauline agreed to make the turkey! The stuffing is different over here, so I made American stuffing...I had to cube the bread first! It was a major hit though. I was asked to make it again at the teachers' Christmas potluck and Christmas dinner at Miri's house. I think I started a trend. They all wanted the recipe! It was yummy! Once everything was set, Kate wrote a risk assessment. We needed to show that we had thought of any injury the kids might come to in the prep and eating of the food...even that the micro popcorn might have scalding steam when the bags were opened.
The actual day started off with an assembly led by me...my first one. I talked a bit about the history of the holiday. Thank God for teaching "Squanto" for the last several years. Then I shared a movie that I made from my trip to Plymouth and Cape Cod last year. The hall was absolutely silent. I have no idea what I did or said, maybe it was the accent, but they were all very intrigued with the story. Then we went to work on our projects we were going to work on with other grade levels. My group had decided to make totem pole...I know wrong tribe, but that's what they wanted to do. They turned out really cool...about 5 feet tall with each class's bird at the top. The year 6's did a great job on the tops. After lunch, we had our parties. There were our 6 classes having a feast in the school hall...180+ kids squeezed in. We had veg soup, corn muffins, apple muffins, rolls, homemade butter (which didn't really make it around before the rolls were gone, oh, well!), and sparkling fruit juice. Then there were 4 classes having popcorn and playing games that they had made up based on the path of the Mayflower...they were made by 2nd graders for reception kids. Wow!! The last 4 classes had muffins and did various mixed grade activities. One class did a reader's theater of the feast. Another class drew giant posters of the Mayflower...I'm not sure what the other 2 classes did though. All the classes did a great job and had a super time! They all wanted to know when they would be able to do it again! Year 4 continued to study the Thanksgiving story. We read "If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620," then made big posters of what we learned. My class researched various parts of the story from both the Pilgrim and Wampanoag sides and designed a Publisher page with pictures and text. Ann's class drew and watercolored 12x18" pictures of the Mayflower. They were so amazing that I'm bringing color copies of them home! What a great week!

Chedworth Roman Villa and Stratford

On 10th Nov., I drove through the Cotswolds - beautiful - and got to this 3rd century Roman villa. They think it was either a farm or a religious pilgrimage destination. There is evidence for both. They are fairly certain that the residents were Britons that followed Roman traditions, including Roman baths/sauna/hot tubs with mosaic tiled floors. Since the villa is at the top of a valley, the dirt from the surrounding hills just covered up the villa until it was unearthed in the 1860's. The Victorian English, excavated as much as they could and did some minor repairs. It was amazing to travel back in time and drive through the beautiful countryside.

15th Nov., school was closed due to the builders cutting the main power to our building! The kids had it off, but we went in to help at the Nest (name of the Infant's building - pre-k - 1) and then to work on our assessments.

16th Nov. saw me driving through the Cotswolds again, but to a different destination. I was off to Stratford upon Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. Friday night, Dan and family, Susan, and I met up for dinner at The Dirty Duck, originally named The Black Swan, but dubbed The Dirty Duck by American sailors in WWII. It was a fabulous evening and I was glad to get there. My gps sent me to Warwick (war-ick), instead of Warwick Road in Stratford. Luckily, it was just up the road, so I easily found it. However, my gps wanted me to drive from Warwick up to the top of Scotland, take the ferry to Belfast, and drive down to somewhere just above Dublin named Warwick Road. Boy was I glad that I can use my brain! Saturday morning I took the red bus tour around town, then met Dan, Torie, and Maria (the fam) for lunch. Dan and I went to see Henry V, while Torie and Maria went swimming. Henry V is a bit heavy for a 6 year old. =) Great play! I walked about town after the play, tried to see Shakespeare's grave, but there was a rehearsal happening in the church, so couldn't get up there...Oh, well. The four of us met up for dinner and then chit chatted over a bottle of wine and hot cocoa back at their hotel. Great company and conversation! The next morning, I drove about seeing 3 of the Shakespeare homes...his birthplace and museum, his wife's home before marriage, and his mom's home/farm. His wife's home (Anne Hathaway) had huge gardens. It must be stunning in spring/summer. His mom's farm has ancient breeds of farm animals and a falconry area...very cool. One of the best parts though was a window at his birthplace. It has been removed from the original place, parent's bedroom, to protect it. Hundreds of people came and carved their name in it...famous writers...very cool! Cold is how I would describe the day though...and raining. On the way home, as I was driving back through the Cotswolds, it started to snow! It was sooooooooooo pretty! Well, back to school and gearing up for Thanksgiving!

Back Home!

Well, I made it back home safe and sound. On Monday morning, I returned the rental car and picked up mine from the MOT testing/repair shop. Then Jane G., one of the other teachers, picked me up and we drove to Bradford upon Avon. We met up with another teacher from school, Jayne M., who grew up there. She was a brilliant tour guide. We walked through the medieval tithe barn, along the canal that was reopened after restoration by the queen, did loads of fun window shopping, and then went to lunch on a Sally Long Boat on the canal. Yum!! We ended the day walking through St. Laurence's Church, which they think might have been built in 709, but know it was in existence in 1001. Then we walked up to this thatched cottage known as the Witch's Cottage by the locals. Very cool town! The next day, Miri took me to Reading (red-ing) to meet up with her daughter, Becky, for lunch and go shopping in this massive mall. The mall had this canal going between the 2 parts of it...very pretty, and the shopping was great! I got a lot of Christmas presents there...including chocolates from Hotel Chocolate! American chocolate doesn't even come close! We tried to find pumpkins on the way home for maths the next day, but they were nowhere to be seen...pumpkin shortage due to flooding. The next day was Halloween...sadly, we had to go back to school. Worse yet, I woke up at 3am with food poisoning! Yikes! I'm pretty sure it was with some pasta I made at home. I tried to go to school, but they sent me home. After 2 days curled up on the couch, I was better and made it back to school. Yippee! So good to feel healthy again!

Half Term Holiday

Well...I took off to Dublin to meet up with another Fulbright teacher, Elizabeth. The trip there went well, until just after I landed. I got in at midnight, took out Euros from the ATM, or cashpoint, but it only came out in 50's. No one in the entire airport would give me change so I could take the bus to town...6 Euros. Instead, I took at cab for 20 Euros. Once there I was given a dorm room that was empty. It was great for the night. In the morning they told me I needed to move as a large group was coming in that day though. Oh, well! At least I got one night to myself. We took the red bus around town...saw the Book of Kells, walked through Kilmainham Gaol (where all the Irish revolutionaries were shot - very moving), and went on the Guinness tour...all in the first day. The second day we went on a walking tour...saw the Riverdance headquarters, and walked through Temple Bar and along Grafton Street. Last day in Dublin we went to the Irish Writer's Museum, shopped a bit, I went to see the movie Stardust (FAB - U - LOUS!!), then we went to dinner with traditional music and dance (pretty cool!) I'll try to upload the video as soon as I'm able. My last two days, I decided to take the train down to Waterford for the night to see the crystal factory. It was amazing and I'm really glad I went. Then I tried to get home. The locomotive of the train wasn't working correctly when we got to Kilkenney...2 hours later...a new locomotive arrived from Waterford and we went on our way. I made the transfer to the bus for the airport and thought everything was OK. It hadn't yet clicked that I misinterpreted the military time on my ticket. When I got to the airport, Ryanair wouldn't let me check my luggage as it was 35 minutes until take-off and they stop taking luggage 45 minutes before...Yeah, you figured it out correctly...10 minutes late. I guess my dad's right...I need to put in my will that my body needs to be delivered 10 minutes late to my funeral. LOL! Anyway, this time it cost me 76 Euro and a night sleeping (barely) in the airport. This was the most expensive "cheap" trip I have ever taken! Here's to next term break going much better!!!! Keep your fingers crossed! I just made plans to go on a Harry Potter tour with Susan, another Fulbright teacher! Can't wait!!!!!!

Surviving the 1st 6 Weeks of School!

Hi all! Sorry it has been soooooo long! I've been on survival mode for the last 6 weeks; learning a whole new school system. There are a lot of similarities: the kids, the politics, the playground, the computer lab...However, there are many more differences: textbooks for each student (only 10 anthologies to share with both classes), smartboards ("whiteboard" like board that works like a touch screen for a computer, you can have the kids write on it with an electronic pen, type, or double click with your finger), governing board vs. school board (essence is the same, but the governing board is more hands on and a bit more powerful), the head has a lot more power/control than a principal, 32 kids vs. 20, more art, more computer time, more mental math, less reading instruction, more analysing types of text, more PE, etc. The list could go on, but the main difference is the ideolgies. While we are more test based, they are more classroom evidence based. I have to hold onto everything we do in class and for homework. I also don't test anywhere near what I do in the States; so far, only weekly spelling tests. We didn't even give a math test at the end of the +/- unit. I'm still not totally sure how we know if they learned it all, but I'm sure that will become more evident as the year progresses. The main benefits that I can see are that the kids are less stressed and can be taught in a more well-rounded manner. However, there aren't many interventions for the kids that are low. I don't know if its just at my school or national. The new head is looking into getting loads more interventions in place. However, there is a national TV ad that says that 1 in 5 kids leave primary school not being able to read well. It has been fascinating to watch 2 schools become 1. We have made some fabulous steps and we have many more to make, but I think its really going in the right direction. I can't wait to see the end result. I may have to come back to visit...=)
Well, I'm off to Dublin and, possibly, Waterford for the half term! Write again soon!