A Sad Day in Cambridge :(

Well, it's 12:30am, my bags are packed and I think I'm pretty much set to leave for the 3 hour bus ride to the airport within the next couple of hours. Today was a sad day at school! I feel really blessed to have been welcomed as a part of the Cottenham family over the past few weeks. My teacher has been fantastic - very accommodating and she always made sure to include me. When Traci, Amanda, and I pulled up to school this morning we were surprised to see that they replaced their school flag with the American flag as a way to honor us. Also, I had to say bye to about half of my class (the other half are on a week-long field trip). Many of them made me cards or wrote notes saying that they will miss me. I wrote all 30 of them a note on Florida postcards that I brought with me along with "silly bands" (the latest craze among elementary school kids in the states). I've learned so much about teaching and about myself through this experience and hopefully I can put what I have learned into practice sometime in the future. Thanks for reading and following along with my adventures in Cambridge!

the time of my life!

Wow! Here I am with 2 more days of teaching left - crazy!! As I'm thinking, I'm definitely glad that I came and have learned so much from my teachers, professors, and fellow future teachers. I had my last observation today by Dr. Parker and despite the fact that my 45 minute lesson had to be crunched into 20 minutes, it went really well! It was a numeracy lesson on pentominoes with a little bit of area and perimeter. It's hard to describe but basically pentominoes are shapes made up of 5 squares and there are 12 of them total. Both of my teachers said that I've improved a lot with classroom management and timing, so that was relieving to hear! Personally, I feel like I've gained a lot more confidence explaining things (aka modeling, in teacher terms) and just being "in charge" of 30 kids. Just when I started getting into the swing of things, it's time to leave. :(


I'm going to be sad to leave this country, Cottenham, and my students, but I guess I'm ready to come home now. Tomorrow night we're going out with our teachers so that should be fun! And tonight, in the next few minutes actually, we have our Final Celebration at Lucy Cavendish College. We made a video and I will try to upload it onto here soon!

London, take 2

Yesterday was, by far, one of the best days ever! Why? Because I got to see Wicked on Broadway!!!! Well, let me back up a few hours...we (Catie, Joanna, Allison, and Laura) headed out of Warkworth House really early in the morning to catch the 9am train to London. We got an awesome deal on an all day bus/train/tube pass for £10 a piece! We arrived at the Liverpool train station around 11:15 am....just minutes away from missing the Changing of the Guards ceremony at 11:30!! So we all ran across the streets, intersections, and sidewalks a few blocks up to finally get to Buckingham Palace. It was soo crowded with tons and tons of people! We got as close as we could to the palace gates, but this was as close as I could get. I think we were all pleased with that, though.



We ran back to the Victoria station to see if there were any more student tickets left for Wicked. Just for background information, Wicked is the "untold story of the witches of Oz." One of the great things about having a student ID is that you can get into a show that would normally be £65 for £25! After that, I was so happy that I could care less what we did in London that day. The next place we headed for was Westminster Abbey - absolutely amazing! I had never really known the history of it until I visited. The place was so big and the high Gothic architecture was amazing. I remember learning all about some of the terms in art history in high school so it was cool to see it all in real life - the rose windows, flying buttresses, etc. Here is where they buried all of the royal families for almost a thousand years! All the kings, queens, and even famous scientists (like Charles Darwin) and writers were buried here. I couldn't take any pictures in there though. :(


Afterwards, the group split up to do different things and so Catie and I wanted to go to Trafalgar Square to see the National Gallery and to take pictures on the giant lions in the front. Well, on our walk there what sounded like a distant riot/mob seemed to be getting closer and closer. We kept walking and passed a few "gay pride" trucks and flags. How wonderful - the one day we wanted to go to Trafalgar Square was the day that the whole street was blocked off for this massive parade. It was incredibly crowded and so we just made new plans to see the Museum of Natural History in South Kensington. We were becoming pros at the whole tube navigation thing. The last thing we did was dinner at the ORIGINAL Hard Rock Cafe in Hyde Park. Although it took us a while to find, the food was well worth it! We decided to save the best for last and made it to the Victoria Apollo to see Wicked. It was well worth it and undoubtedly the highlight of the day. :)

The start of another great weekend

As I mentioned earlier, all the Year 5's took a day trip to Mepal today and I got to go! (Will have pics soon.) It is basically an outdoor activity center and there is a huge lake. You can check it out at mepal.co.uk. Our group had kayaking first - which was a lot of fun, but really cold whilst sitting on the lake with wind blowing. We each had our own kayak and the instructors led us through the lake and we did different games. Then the boys went rock climbing. For the last activity, I went with Miss Page's group through the Trust Trail. They make you wear special goggles that blind you and your partner has to lead you through an intense obstacle course -- walking on logs, doing the army crawl under a log on dirt, climbing things, etc. It was fun and I was exhausted! On the bus ride home, I thought to myself, "I could definitely go for a cider tonight..."





So, after getting home a few of the girls and I decided to hunt for food. We heard about a mexican restaurant nearby (Nanna Mexico) and after all the food I've seen, I'm willing to try just about anything new! The food there was really good - a burrito with horchata tea. Oh, and if you don't believe me about the food, I included a picture of a sample menu at a pub that many of us frequent since it is just a hop and skip away from our house....see for yourself! Anyways, we wanted to stop somewhere for cider, so we settled on "All Bar One," an upscale restaurant/lounge (not a pub at all) that is really close to our house. I had pear cider :) It was so nice to relax and not have to worry about school for a couple days. On our walk home, we had to pass through Parker's Peice (the ginormous park across from our house). There were still handfuls of groups of people hanging out in random patches of grass, so we decided to stay for a while and stargaze...until it got "cold". Tomorrow is LONDON!!! And I'm really excited!!!!!!!







Proof: "Hot camcattle ox tongue sandwich with walnut mustard, guinea fowl, devilled lamb kidneys, and as always, you can get one of the sausages of the day with mash and gravy!" I think one of these days I might be brave and venture for something daring.



Oh and I forgot to mention that I did my 3rd kickball lesson for PE. And yes, it actually follows the structure of a real lesson with an introduction, the game, and follow up with pointers, etc. My teacher evaluates me when I do them, so it's a bit of added pressure. Basically I'm the ref and have to be loud and make all the calls. Seeing that I don't really enjoy shouting for extended periods of time, it's been kind of challenging. The kids love to play it though since it's much easier than softball. The boys got really into the game, though, and made a girl cry which my teacher handled, thank goodness!!

Cheers, week 3!

Oh my goodness, I still cannot believe how quickly time has been flying! I think that somehow, I've subconsciously convinced myself that I live here, go to school here, and kind of work here (aka living the life of a local) so I'm a bit shocked that I have to leave so soon! Today I had my second observation and it went great! It was called the "Theme Park Maths Challenge" (and yes, I did say 'maths' - hard to get used to saying it like that). I had stayed up really late the night before prepping for the lesson. I spent a good hour working on designing my theme park to use as a model for them, and they saw it for like 10 seconds...that's teaching I guess! I also showed them a short video clip about Universal Studios, which they loved. But my professor said my lesson went really well and so that made me feel at ease. She said that I was calm, confident, and had a positive demeanor with the kids. (Little did she know I was actually incredibly nervous -- these big kids intimidate me!)


For the first part of the morning, though, I did a peer observation at Great Abington Primary School. This was also a village school but REALLY small. There was one classroom per grade and the whole school had 100-something students! I'm really excited about our field trip to Mepal tomorrow!! Woooo! I also found out that I've been recruited for another field trip on Monday to a place that I cannot remember. All I know is that I have to "dress up like a Tudor". "What in the world does that mean?" I thought. Well, you know....a smock, apron, bonnet....that kind of thing. Should be interesting.

half way there :(

This week seems like it might now be as eventful as last week. The kids have been working on a science assessment (which takes a couple hours each day) and swimming. It's an experiment with jelly (jello) in which they have to figure out the best method to dissolve it in water. They also have an all-day field trip on Friday to Mepal (which I'm REALLY excited about!). Anyways, the only lesson I'm doing this week is a "maths" lesson, "Theme Park Challenge" on Thursday afternoon with Year 6!!! Right now I'm waiting for seminar to begin, but I'll definitely be planning it tonight. Basically, the kids will have 2 hours to think up, plan, and design their own theme park using a budget of 500,000 pounds. This is also going to be my 2nd professor observation...so let's just hope it goes well. I'm going to throw in a couple management tricks because the kids tend to get ridiculously noisy and it's starting to drive me crazy!! ;)


I feel so dumb for NOT packing a swim suit or shorts seeing that we're going to Mepal on Friday. From what I've heard, it's pretty much a big lake where the kids will get to do all sorts of water sports and activities. So....I think I might have to painfully spend a few pounds downtown going shopping for a bathing suit. I guess I packed too lightly....but when I thought of England, I never thought of sunny weather. And this week has been HOT! Like mid 80s and SUNNY! I could have stayed in FL for that kinda weather. :/ Anyways, it's getting late and I have to get to planning for my big lesson on Thursday!

i love the weekends!

I love the weekends!! Since my teacher doesn't do planning on her weekends, that means that she doesn't give me anything to do either. With the exception of ESOL or PE homework, I'M FREE!! On Saturday, I was really disappointed that I didn't get to go to Stonehenge...the Saturday trip was fully booked!! :( Maybe if I'm feeling adventurous next weekend, I might be able to squeeze in a Sunday trip. So on Saturday, I moseyed around Cambridge. They had an art and craft fair going on and we passed by the open air market and then around to King's College.

My favourite thing we did was eating at "The Eagle". It's supposedly the most famous pub in Cambridge. Actually, Watson and Crick used to hang out there a lot back in the day after studying at their labs. This was also where they first announced their discovery of DNA! I thought that was pretty cool. A lot of the WW2 soldiers would spend time there also. The ceiling is covered with writing and signatures from the soldiers written with candle light and lipstick...so cool!


I crashed early Saturday night to get ready for Sunday adventures! Tammy, Catie, Diedre, and I were feeling up to exploring the coast! We heard about this random lavender farm about 45 mins away. Also, Tammy's teacher told her about a beach town, "Sunny Hunny," which just sounded like it would be fun to visit. We took the train to Heacham for 4 pounds! We were already starting our trip off with a great deal. After getting to the Lavender Farm, we had dinner from the kitchen. It was beef, roast potatoes, and veggies. I couldn't resist getting a lavender scone too! It was quite good. After eating, we were pretty much ready to leave for the beach....the only problem was that we weren't really sure of the bus system. To give some background info, we were kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think country backwoods. There were signs that said, "Beware of horse and carriages." SO....that being said...the buses only run by the hour so we sat in the grass for what felt like an hour waiting for the bus! Oh and to add to it, we brilliantly chose to make this trip on England's hottest day of the year.











Miraculously, the bus came!! Just when we were about to give up and walk back to the farm for directions. We took a 5 minute ride to Hunstanton aka Sunny Hunny. They were also having a carnival, so it was really crowded. And hot. The "beach" was kind of muddy and there were a lot of weird creatures. Even though we just walked the coastline, there were jellyfish laying around in the sand and other things that were unidentifiable. In the morning, the tide goes back probably about 1 kilometer...and then slowly goes back in as the sun sets. It was coming in pretty quickly though when we were there. It was a really laid back day...and for a 30 pound trip to the beach, it was well worth it. Once again, I give all the credit to the others for being able to navigate and successfully switch trains and buses. Well tomorrow begins another early morning! 5pm in Tampa means that it's 10pm here...which also means it's off to bed for me!

and.....GO!

Well, if I said that last week was slow -- this week has been crazy! I've been teaching every day this week so far. On Monday, it started with a surprise. I walked in the door (expecting to do more observations) and my teacher told me I was covering the "Morning News" for 30 minutes and doing the "register" (roll call). I like to do roll, because for each of the 30 odd names on the list, you say, "Good morning, _____" and the student responds, "Good morning, Miss Thomas". I could get used to that! Also, I led the discussion and then led the PE lesson that day - kickball! There's a lot more thinking behind it than I would have thought. Anyways, the kids loved the assembly I did on Florida on Wednesday. It was really cool because I used Google Earth to show them where USF was as they "oohed" and "ahhhed". Today, I taught for the whole afternoon with a little bit of help from my teacher. We're studying Argentina, so they are making travel brochures. Tomorrow....the lesson continues...for 2 more hours. It's great because my teacher always gives me lots of feedback after I do a lesson. The hardest part is trying to remember/apply it all the next time!! Comes with practice I guess. Anyways, there are a few very rowdy boys in the class who don't always act very 'sensibly'.

Luckily, most of the lessons are already planned so I don't have to reinvent the wheel every night. It's getting rough keeping up with online class and planning at night, so it's been quite an uneventful week. The coolest thing I've seen this week were these ducks on my walk home from school today! This weekend will be better though -- possibly STONEHENGE, Oxford, and Windsor. We'll see....thanks for reading!!

First Week Teaching

This week has been very slow at school, in terms of the internship. I had my first observation by one of my professors and it went really well. I did a mini lesson on a Shakespeare reading that the kids had to do. I thought the reading was really advanced! (Want to know a secret? I had to look up the meaning of the thing online because I was clueless myself!) Anyways, the lesson went really well. Speaking of lessons, Miss W asked me to do a Florida lesson for the Year 5 and 6 assembly on Wednesday morning. Thinking about having almost 200 pairs of eyes listening to me makes me a little nervous, but I'm really excited because all of the kids are so interested in the US. They ask me things about it all the time. My favorite question yet was from some of the Year 5 girls. They asked, "Miss Thomas, how does it feel to live in a holiday destination?!" In the UK, holiday is just another word for vacation. That made me laugh.

My favorite thing that we did this week was punting on the River Cam! After seminar on Thursday, some of us did the ever-so-quintessentially Cambridge thing to do. Punting is similar to an Italian gondola ride, but better if you ask me! It was very relaxing going through the Backs of the river after a long day at school.

Today, Saturday, was yet another long day! A few of the girls and I took the hour-long train to London this afternoon. We were so overwhelmed with so many things to see and do! We had a hop-on, hop-off bus tour so we got to see everything...but didn't get to go inside many places. The first stop was at the British Museum. That place was so immense, I could have probably spent the whole day there. There were collections from Ancient Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mexico - you name it, they had it! The coolest thing was seeing the real Rosetta stone. We only got to spend about an hour in there and then headed back on the bus to ride through the West side of London Center. I learned a lot about the history of the city and saw the Tower of London, BIG BEN, drove past the House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Trafalgar Square. Hopefully, we will have another chance to go back and fill in the areas we've missed. :)

Kelly, Catie and I also got a little lost trying to find our bus stop in the cold. Good thing those two have great map-reading skills to be able to navigate in that city because who knows where we'd end up if it were up to me!

^ @ Platform 9 and 3/4!!!!!

We had dinner in the Victoria area at a place called "The Shakespeare"...after eating at several places here, I'm starting to realize that people really aren't joking when they say that food in Great Britain is bad. Every menu basically consists of "bangers and mash" (sausages), some sort of soup of the day (to be on the safe side), and fish n chips (french fries). Needless to say I had subway three times this week for dinner...for £1.99 for the sub of the day, I figured I couldn't go wrong. That, and also everything here closes at 5 pm -- restaurants, stores, just about everything (except subway).


^ riding on the double decker bus

Can I Transfer to King's College?

So I survived my first day at Cottenham today. My mentor, Miss Wilkinson, is very nice, helpful, and welcoming. Since I'm working with Year 5 and 6 students, they swap rooms throughout the day. I probably work with about 80 students each day. The system is a little confusing, but I should figure it out soon enough. It's a little overwhelming/chaotic because the teachers here are very laid back and don't seem to mind noise in the classroom. They let them get very creative and build, create, and paint all the time. I had to do a read aloud for a long story today and it went pretty well! I was worried, though, that they would be distracted by my "accent" (yes). Honestly though, I think I'm beginning to think in a British accent. It's becoming more normal! As a side note, my favorite part of the day is tea time. While the kids are playing outside on morning break, the teachers drink tea and eat pastries in the lounge. It's "brilliant."



This weekend, I went to the Town and Country festival at the huge park across from our house, Parker's Piece. It wasn't much different from a state fair or carnival, but it was free and there was a lot of food for sale and a petting zoo. We also took the opportunity to explore Cambridge more. We got up close and personal with King's College -- the main school that's a part of the University of Cambridge. The area is definitely a college town and with graduation weekend being this week, there were graduates all over the streets. I really think that our group (in small groups) blend in with the local students! On the way home from school today, someone asked me for directions. Not that I could point them in the right direction or anything. We also found a really cool open-air market near the university. Well, I have a lot of work to catch up with!!! No more blogging for a couple days!