Match Made In....Country Day School

Whew! We made it through week one! Surprisingly, even though I have been sick with a cold all week, I am not as tired as I had prepared myself to be. I was preparing for the worse - aka how tired I was after 3 days a week at OMS last semester! I've actually had a very enjoyable and almost relaxing week - for the first time since I started the teaching program, teaching has been everything I always thought it would be. Productive, engaging, entertaining, and rewarding, not stressful and time consuming like some teachers make it out to be. So many teachers in the US are so stressed out about their students meeting the national standards and testing high enough on the gajillion standardized tests they are given each year that they don't have time to enjoy teaching. They "don't have time for" science and social studies because they aren't tested, so why teach them when you can use that time to teach reading and math, the only two skills that are even going to be important in life apparently. In the US, I also feel like teachers have to be SO careful in their own classroom behavior. You have to be careful how you hug your students in the morning. You have to be careful how you record data and backup your teaching. You have to be careful to be "fair" to all of your students, which I learned in our staff meeting is pretty bogus. Not following me? Watch this YouTube on students with learning disabilities. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G9--hUQDwY&feature=related F.A.T. City does several awesome presentations like this about teaching students with learning disabilities, and we watched them all in professional development on Wednesday after school. It's really a whole different story, but I learned quite a bit from these videos and I think teachers/administrators/really, the-people-in-power-who-make-all-these-stupid-tests-and-rules in the U.S. could too! (Also, just sayin, there are some awesome teachers out there who overcome the sometimes restricting atmosphere and do a marvelous job with their students. I just think that education in the U.S. as a whole could use a little wake up call to see why a wholesome, not just high achieving, education is what is important.)

Anywaaayyyyyy, the point of this entry is to say that this school is a perfect match for me. (So far at least, ask me again in 15 weeks haha.) I have always felt a little restricted in traditional school settings as an upcoming teacher, and I sometimes wondered "If this is what teaching is going to be like for the rest of my life, am I SURE SURE SURE I want to do this?!" Thankfully, (so far) teaching at the Country Day School is helping me remember why I was motivated to go into the teaching field. I haven't met a teacher here yet that is stuck in what Cohort C calls "survival mode" where they only give out worksheets all day or spend the entire day reprimanding their kids. Granted, these kids are VERY lucky to have good, involved parents and PLENTY of resources, so we generally don't have the same behavior issues that I have come across in some of my placements. None of the students are threatening each other or being physically violent...they just talk all the time and run around like maniacs like third graders are supposed to do! The important thing is though, the students are encouraged to be critical thinkers and life long learners, not just good test takers. Students are taught how to handle conflict, problem solve, work together, and challenge themselves...I think these traits are way more important than anyone being able to spit out a memorized multiplication table or make an educated, calculated guess on a test. Don't take this the wrong way, my students are still taught the traditional math and reading, but they are also taught spelling and handwriting and social studies and science and art and music!!! It's so refreshing to see kids who are excited about school and writing that their dream for the world is for everyone to be able to go to school. Positively refreshing and just what I've needed in internship.

What is also refreshing is how much I get to be outside everyday!! If there is AC here, no one uses it, and instead there is a constant breeze from outside blowing into the classrooms, cafeteria, bathrooms even! There are no hallways, so every time the kids go to "specials" (art, music, p.e. and computer), we get to walk outside! They have break/recess for 15 mins in the morning, and 30 mins recess before lunch, and if we don't have recess duty, we get an hour outside to eat lunch at any of the picnic tables on campus. I also get to lead/watch the math games every morning, which are held during math class and played outside in rotating groups. Oh and don't forget the many trips to the office and copier that let me squeeze a little more outside time into my day! Oh, you want me to run to the office to pick up supplies? Yes please.

I've also met some really awesome people here. First of all, my teacher is SO helpful to me as an intern. She helps me find  my way around campus and understand the way everything works. She explains everything about each student and their individual habits and need, and she asks for my input, which is very welcoming. We've even worked out a great way for me to start teaching. Not this coming week, but the next, I will take over all the little planning and teaching like handwriting, spelling, and the chapter book read aloud. Nothing much, but it lets me ease my way into teaching and planning while the students have time to get used to me actually teaching and being in charge before I actually am! Haha! Then, the week after, I will completely take over teaching math everyday (and planning for it). Two weeks later, Language Arts is all mine, and two weeks later, it's ALL mine and I teach for two whole weeks by myself. We will be starting a heritage project in social studies the week I take over, so I will teach that project all month. After the two weeks of full time teaching that I am required to do, I will give up language arts but I will keep doing the social studies project. Two weeks later is Semana Santa (spring break) and when we come back, I will give up social studies again as we will have finished our heritage project and we will be starting a new one. Two weeks later, I give up math, two weeks later I give up the rest and one week or so later is my last week!!! Sounds pretty good to me! I am so excited I actually fit here so well, but I am afraid I might get spoiled! :)

There are a few other teachers I definitely want to get to know too since a lot of them are actually doing what I want to do and teaching all over the world, somewhere different every few years or so, even with a family in tow! I NEED to figure out ALL the ins and outs of that type of lifestyle to I can start getting ready now! The students here are also great...I enjoy being in a classroom full of boys...there's NEVER a dull moment, and that's one reason I chose to teach. They also are so free-spirited and they love to just be kids, and the teachers let them be. Our class is full of life and energy, to say the least, and even the principal here is always smiling. Is this real? Haha the principal is really great too, you can tell he REALLY cares about his staff and students, and he genuinely wants what is best for everyone.

So after the first week of school, I am thrilled, even though I'm sick! (Side note, my teacher recommended some herbal tea especially for bad coughs, and it actually is curing me!) I was so nervous about coming because of all the unknowns, and now that I know that Oky is fabulous and that I like my school, I can breathe a sigh of relief (even though I'm paranoid of getting robbed all the time haha). Hopefully, I feel the same way in 15 more weeks! So far so good, and I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend, hopefully by a pool somewhere!

PURA VIDA,
Jessica