My First Podcast!

This is a practice run podcast about our field trip to Stonehenge and Bath, England. Click on the link below and enjoy!

My First Podcast!

My Day at Chaucer Primary School

I was placed in another fifth year classroom today at Chaucer. Mrs. Norman, my host teacher, had the students writing questions down in order to prepare for an upcoming question and answer session with me. The students had great questions prepared for me, and as our conversation went on they thought of even more to spiral off of the previous questions. My favorite question was when I was asked if I had ever been on America's Got Talent. I was also asked about what types of holiday's we celebrate in the U.S. When I got to Thanksgiving none of the students knew what it was. I knew that they wouldn't celebrate the holiday but I was very surprised they were unaware even of its existence. I explained that the holiday has a lot to do with their own hometown of Plymouth, when the pilgrims left on the Mayflower and made their voyage to America, the Native Americans greeted them with a huge feast. I then told them that for our holiday of Thanksgiving in November, we have huge feasts with our families to remember this special time. The students thought it was very neat that our country celebrated a national holiday which had so much to do with Plymouth, England. The students were also interested in the weather in America, what types of animals we have, the school systems, our TV programs, and our food including sweets and chocolate. The students then broke into writing groups to work on writing letters to smokers in an effort to get them to quite smoking. During this time I was able to walk around and take photos of the students and answer some more of their questions.

When we got picked up in the cab, I was given a small gift from Kailey. She had a ruler and a note from Widey Court, the school I had been placed in the last two days. One student, Cody gave me her dolphin ruler because she learned that dolphins were my favorite animal. I also received a letter from my host teacher, Mr. Bower. I was unable to say goodbye to him on my last day because he was out of the room when I had to leave. He thanked me for helping in the classroom and offered to email pictures of his class. He also wished me good luck in my future teaching career. I was really touched by these two gestures, feeling like I had made a difference in this small British school in even just two days... Another reminder why I love children and teaching!

Inquiry Project #1: Speaking of British Culture

The purpose of this project was to find an aspect of British culture and tell a narrative through a digital story about our own experience with that specific aspect. I chose to focus on language and communication in my own inquiry. My story begins with my initial thoughts about the British language and accent, and then takes you through some of my own experiences that changed and sculpted my initial views.

I would like to take the time here in my blog to thank and site my sources, which helped me to make this project happen:

http://www.effingpot.com
woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/behavior.html
www.europe-map.org/england.htm
geology.com/world/the-united-states-of-america-satellite-image.shtml
mostlymedia.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/gone-baby-gone-love-is-gone-away
Photos by Amy Hopper

Bath and Stonehenge

Today we took a class field trip from Plymouth to Stonehenge to Bath. It was quite the journey considering the shortest point A to point B was an hour and a half and the longest was four hours, but well worth it. Despite the constant pouring down rain we got to see two amazing sites of England, both of which I hope I get another chance to visit.

It's amazing to think about those stones at Stonehenge being erected by people so long ago, and how did they do it? Just standing there on the ground where so much history has occurred felt really brilliant as the English would put it. Then, the city of Bath is very historical as well. The buildings were so old and fascinating. The Bath Abbey was beautiful and we also toured the Roman Baths. I learned a lot about the history of the Roman Baths and their conquer over Britain. I was able to buy some children's books which provide more information on the history and will be a good resource for my future classroom. According to the history, the Romans channeled the natural hot spring water into the huge lead lined bath. People came from all over Europe to this Roman "spa" for cures and healing. You can still go to the spa today of the Roman Baths in Bath, England.

This is me in the pouring rain at Stonehenge!

The Roman Baths

A Roman altar in the museum of the Roman Baths.

The Bath Abbey (Church)

The most beautiful roses for sale on the streets of Bath.

My Experience in the British Schools

So the past two days I have been placed in a British fifth year classroom at Widey Court Primary School in Plymouth. I found out that Plymouth has 62 primary schools and even more secondary schools. All children are required to wear uniforms to school whether it is private or public. The school systems here are very different and all little more complicated than in the U.S. BUT students never get held back or skip ahead grades (or years as they say), they always stay with their own age group. While I was there on my first day, I had something strange happen in my classroom. Well, it was strange to me but quite normal for the U.K. The children were getting ready to go to their P.E. class and are required to wear proper gym attire in order to participate in the P.E. activities. So the teacher I was observing, Mr. Bower, dismissed the children to get changed. To my surprise all the children grabbed the gym clothes, brought them back into the classroom, and began to undress and change all together in the classroom. Now, imagine me an American visitor, feeling awkward with nine and ten-year-old's down to their underwear with myself and the male teacher in the room. I was absolutely stunned that these kids were able to change in front of each other and with us teachers present as well. This would never happen in the U.S. with such an old classroom. But, in England and other European countries, this is actually quite normal. One the children move on to secondary school in their 6th year, then they separate for changing and P.E. class as well.

The next thing that struck me odd was the curriculum for the children's sex education course. The class is finishing up their unit on sex education in their science classes right now. I remember going through a similar class when I was in fifth grade, but what surprised me, was how much further the students learning goes past the basics we are teaching to fifth grade students in the United States. On my first day in the classroom Mr. Bower told me that in the afternoon the students would be watching a video of a live birth! I was astonished!! I thought that was something I might not of seen until high school, and here these nine and ten-year-old's are watching a video of a baby coming out of a woman. I guarantee such a video would never be shown in any American elementary classroom. When I went back to the same class today, I was able to talk to a few students about what they thought of the video. Most of them thought it was incredibly gross, and made a noises to show me their disgust. One girl told me, "As soon as I saw the woman with her legs open I had to close my eyes!"

I went to this particular school with two other girls in my program, and we were invited by the school liaison, to give a presentation to the school in their daily assembly. We agreed and put together a short power point slide show to introduce ourselves to the school. The schools normally have daily assembly's where the school gets together to sing a song, give out various, awards, and have a prayer. Then we were kind of thrown into that mix as well. The school liaison introduced us and then we were given the chance to talk about ourselves, and where we come from. Then, the students were given the chance to ask us questions they had about us or America. Some of them had pretty cute questions for us. Many of the kids have the misconception that if you are from the U.S. then you know lots of celebrities, I think some were disappointed to find out that none of us had ever met or seen Hannah Montana. We were also asked why our food is so salty, if we like to watch the Simpsons, if our American students have to wear uniforms to school, what type of teachers we would like to be, how hot does it get in Michigan, if our portion sizes are really big, and so on. A lot of students have dreams of being able to visit America one day. They asked me if I have seen Shamu and been to Disney World too.

I almost forgot to add about my gift. We brought our host teachers small gifts from Michigan State as a token of our appreciation for having us come visit. I gave my teacher Mr. Bower a Michigan State tee-shirt and an MSU pen. He was so excited and grateful for what I had given him he scooped me up in a great big hug and kissed me on the cheek! :) I thought it was very nice and it made me feel good to make him so happy!

Tintagel an King Arthur's Castle

On Sunday a small group of us girls learned on our own how to use the trains here in England and found our way to Bodmin Parkway. We then had to take a taxi cab from there into Tintagel. Our cab ride was actually quite funny because we were stopped by a herd of cows. As our cab approached the herd in the road. The herder or farmer halted us to stop so he could lead the cows on around our car and out through the road. The ride was also quite the experience because the roads were so narrow, it made us nervous to pass other cars alongside. Once we reached Tintagel, we took the footpath down to the castle remains. The steps up and down the hills were SUPER steep but very exciting too. I would say that this was my paradise, the most beautiful place I have ever seen with my own eyes. We learned a little about Arthurian legend and Merlon's cave of mystery. Supposedly this was the site of King Arthur's birth and the Knight's of the Round Table. After our extreme hike we found lunch at a little cafe and tea inside a cozy pub.

Our Night at the Navy Inn

Some of the girls and I decided to stop in at the Navy Inn to see if we could find some locals to talk to. The group of guys we met ha some very interesting insights to our questions. When we asked them about their own culture, one young man responded that, "culture is based on the mindset of the people and it can change based on the individuals experiences and opinions." The basic consensus about British culture from the men, was that they were sure they had a British culture, they just didn't notice it, so they couldn't pinpoint specific things about their own culture. Although, one of the guys said that in comparison to Americans, British people were more generous. He said that Americans were more stingy with their money and self-centered. However, this is just a generalization from one person. When questioned about history, the guys said that America didn't have any history, in fact, the man said, "Basically the pilgrims left from here to go to America, the twin towers blew up and that's it." I was baffled that this man thought he could wrap up my entire country's history in that one sentence. I said what about the American Revolution or the Civil War? He said, well the American was you fighting us and the Civil War was you fighting each other, where is the history in that? I then asked him about the first man to land on the moon because he was an American. The man said yes but what language did he speak? I said English. And the man said, "See his ancestors were British." Basically he thought that all American history had direct ties back to England, and it wasn't really our own. The same man also said that he would rather follow U.S. politics than British.

During this same day I also made a discovery on my own about the meaning of another British greeting. I walked into the train station area to ask someone for help in getting some information. When I walked in the man said to me, "Are you alright?" I was a little confused and said yes I just have a couple questions. I left and told the girls what he said to me, and I laughed thinking I must have looked really confused or distraught to him, for him to ask me if I was alright. Then, when I was at the Navy Inn, I walked by a person and they asked me if I was okay. This started to get to me, because my interpretation was that I looked like something was wrong with me for these people to keep asking me if I was okay. Then it occurred to me, this must be the equivalent greeting for our American way of saying, "How are you?" When I made this connection, everything made better sense to me. In the States, I think if someone were to ask me, "Are you alright?" they would be inquiring if something appeared wrong. But here in the U.K. they are just simply saying hello and greeting me.