Week One
Today was my first day at Cameron House! It was all very exciting, but I was a little nervous as well! I am interning in level 3 classroom which consist of 18 adorable children between the ages of 7-8. This semester I will be helping out Suzanne and Huge. They are both teachers that work in the level 3 classroom. Suzanne is very bubbly and has a great personality. She is wonderful with the children and they all respect her very much. Teaching under her is going to be a blast! Hugh is wonderful as well! He helps out in level 3 and is also the head of sports. He is very energetic and the children love him. He brings a positive atmosphere to the class and is always encouraging. The schedule is very different compared to the state schools I am used to assisting in. They don’t start school till around 8:30ish-9:00 and go to almost 4:00 in the afternoon. The children begin the day with house meetings which reminds me a lot of Harry Potter, but is very similar to a student council. Both the teachers and children have different ways of teaching and learning than what I am used too. For example, the students participate in regular French, reasoning, logic, geography, and “challenge time.” Each day is also different which is also unique.
The rooms are very small, it makes moving around the room almost impossible, but on the flip side makes for a close community of learners. I have already learned all 18 of my students’ names by heart and have begun the next task of conquering their personalities. I will talk about at least two of them each week. First I will introduce Malu. Malu is a sweetheart with little brown curls, bright blue eyes, and an accent to die for. She has a kind heart, and a mind of her own. She is very intelligent and needs little assistance as she is very independent. She is very athletic and loves participating in Uni-hoc, which is a sport similar to hockey, but for smaller children. She enjoys being a striker and scoring on all the boys. Then there is Trey. Trey has blonde curling hair and big blues eyes. He is from America as well, North Carolina to be exact, so he and I are buddies. Trey’s Birthday was Tuesday and he turned the big 8! He brought treats for the class and even remembered one for me. Trey has the biggest smile that just melts your heart. He cares about all the boys and girls in his class and goes out of his way to put his classmates first. Trey is also very humble, which is why I believe he is admired by all his classmates. He is very intelligent and also excels in all his studies. I am super excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to keep everyone updated!
January 30-31
Week Two
This week was yet again full of new experiences and excitement! Once again, I started off the week at my Internship However; this week instead of level 3 I had the wonderful opportunity of working with level 5 children. I loved them to say the least! I had a wonderful time in level 3, but an even better time in level 5. Level 5 had consisted of children around the ages of 9 -10 and they were a blast! I have come to find that I really enjoy this age group. They are old enough to understand what is going on, but yet still admire you and need guidance. They begin to develop their own identities, which is my favorite part. It’s so fun to see their strength and weaknesses shine through as they begin to fit into their personalities. Because, I simply cannot share it all (I wish) I will share bits and pieces about my favorite parts of school this week! My absolute favorite part this week was watching drama practice. The level 5 and 6 students are putting on the Musical Annie in March. I cannot wait! They are working so hard, and they have only been practicing for a week! It is amazing how many of them have already memorized their lines. They all sing so well too, I have never seen so many talented children. I love them all! I wish that everyone had the opportunity to see them perform!
This week, I also got to experience swimming practice and sport! Swimming was really neat, since it is something that does not typically take place during the school day within the states. We walked to the local pool were the students were met by their profession swim coach. They worked specifically on the butterfly (a move I never mastered in swim lessons), but they all did quite well at it. They also had sport this week, where they played hockey. It was great fun, but also very cold! The boys loved it, but many of the girls complained about their hands being cold. The goalies had to wear large helmets and protective gear. It reminded me a lot of when my parents made me play hockey.
During this week I had several tasks that included both organization and instruction. I helped my teacher Mary Ann design and organize several math folders for the children. I cut out over a couple hundred math problems and then organized them into separate categories based on the featured area. I did not mind carrying out this task, helping others out no matter what it is seems to be something I really enjoy. It did not take much prior preparation to complete this task. Although, it was tedious and took awhile I was able to complete it in the time allotted. So far the experience at Cameron House has been tremendous! One of my favorite parts of the day is getting to talk with the students and teachers. It is interesting hearing their views on things, as everyone comes from different backgrounds. For example, many of my mentoring teachers are from various places around the world such as South Africa, France, and even Chicago. I have come to find that many of the children at Cameron House are the same way. Many are from other countries or have mixed backgrounds. Several have Scottish and French, while others are from America, Ireland, and even Argentina. It is so interesting to see all of their background and personalities mix. They even enjoy learning about America and the American children love that I add to the American tally we have going in our classroom. We are up to four now! Overall I am absolutely loving the experience and cannot wait to continue this experience.
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