Tales of a Traveling Teacher

Yesterday, I woke up to a missed call and a text that said "Call me :)" from my BFF.  Thankfully the time difference was just enough so that when I was waking up early, she was up late and I got to talk to her.  I could hear her smile through her greetings and especially when she squealed, "I'm engaged!" Cheerleaders in the 5th Grade Play I could not be happier to hear my BFF (best friend forever) so very happy!  Monica and I have been best friends since we met in 3rd grade at Highlands Day School.  We went through elementary school, those awkward middle school years and high school together, never straying too far from one another.  (In high school, I carried a yellow backpack and Monica carried a red one; sometimes we were called ketchup and mustard.)  When it came time for college, I traveled a couple of hours away to Auburn while Monica stayed closer to home, but that just meant that we treasured our time together whether it be on the phone or on...

At home, one of my favorite days with the kids is the day before Christmas break.  It isn't just because it is the day before the holidays, nor is it the party we have, nor the carols that we sing.  The reason that day is one of my favorites is because we take some time to give back to the community; we make blankets that are then taken to a homeless shelter.  Watching the children laugh, smile, and truly shine as they work together making a gift of love for others is truly heartwarming. So, I thought I would bring that slice of happiness here with me.  I ordered some fabric a few weeks before Christmas and was excited to have some time with the kids as they helped to give back to the community.  Unfortunately, the shipping did not go all too well and I did not get the fabric until the first week of January.  It is still cold here though, so I decided Christmas certainly doesn't have to be the only time that we give back. Here, I teach one lesson a week...

My home school participates in something we call character partners.  This is when an older kid is paired with a younger kid in the school.  The classes get together about once a week and read together, have lessons on the character words of the month, teach each other something or work on special projects together.  It is a time that I truly enjoy, watching as the older kids mentor the younger ones and watching as those younger kids appear in awe of their partners. Today, my host school started a reading buddies program.  Once a week, the children will meet with their reading buddy and read together.  The year 5 children (4th grade) have been paired with someone in year 7 (6th grade) who has similar reading abilities.  They might read a book together, take turns reading out loud or discuss books that they have read.  It went absolutely brilliantly today.  The kids enjoyed meeting an older pupil in the school, and the older ones were great liste...

Last night, I had the absolute pleasure of spending the evening with my Scottish neighbors.  Mark and Pam live across the street from me and have been so incredibly kind to me.  They invited me over for a special dinner last night to celebrate Burns Night, a Scottish celebration honoring the life of poet Robert Burns. Robert Burns may or may not be a familiar name to you, but I guarantee you would recognize some of his work, such as "Auld Lang Syne."  He wrote hundreds of poems, often about Scottish traditions and ways of life.  Each year, in Scotland, a celebration is thrown on his birthday.  These grand celebrations often include the presentation of the haggis, bag pipes and Scottish dances.  Why haggis?  Well, one of his best known poems is "Address to a Haggis": Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy of a grace As lang's my arm. The g...

I had the glorious opportunity to once again spend the weekend in London with some dear friends making the most of the city.  I am very thankful to live so close to the city, to have a friend that lives there who opens up her home to me and to have friends that I can talk and laugh with. Funny photos with the cannon Fun in the park We kept our eyes peeled for this little guy and his chirp! Sunshine in London! I'm guessing these had been snowmen Buckingham Palace Trafalgar Square National Gallery The Fulbrighters after our very scary Jack the Ripper tour Making our wishes Lots of wishes have already come true!  What's next?

I am in London again this weekend catching up with fellow Fulbrighters and enjoying this vibrant city. Today I had the opportunity to meet some possible future Fulbright exchangees and speak with them about my incredible experience. Then my friends and I walked through St. James Park, around Buckingham Palace, through Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. Then, we met up with some fellow Fulbrighters to do a Jack the Ripper walk. It was really quite an intriguing walk and our guide, a true historian of the serial killer, was amazing. Afterwards, we all went to a pub and enjoyed catching up and swapping stories. Another great weekend in London!

The snow is expected to melt this weekend as temps begin to rise above freezing. Now the concern is, what will happen to all of the melted snow? Forecasters are concerned that there could be flooding as the snow melts, so they have suggested everyone build a snowman. Yes, you read that correctly. I have no doubt that their plea was a sense of good humor mixed with truth. Since snowmen melt slower than snow scattered about on the ground, their hope was for the snowmen to help spread out the melting snow. Who knew Frosty could save a country from flooding? I'm just sorry I didn't make more snowmen! The photos below are of a snowman that is still standing in my car park, and the field and the playground area still covered in ice and snow-so beautiful and white!

The first time I walked to school in the snow, back in early December, I thought, yes, I need to find a good pair of Wellies (rain boots).  But after walking to and from school lately, I've decided that skates would be a much more logical choice.  In case you were unaware, when snow is packed really hard over the course of a few days, it actually becomes solid ice.  So, I think ice skates just might be my next purchase!  How fun would that be?  Instead of telling my grandchildren that I walked uphill both ways in the snow, I can say that I skated uphill both ways in the snow! :) I am truly amazed at the amount of snow that is still present.  We have had a couple of little flurries this week, nothing that really accumulated, so that means the last real snow we had was last weekend and it is almost Friday and the field and playground area are still a solid sheet of snow and ice several inches thick!  I believe we are even predicted to get some accumula...

I have been very thankful for the opportunities that Fulbrook has given me to share about my American culture.  I am thrilled to get to spend one afternoon a week simply sharing about America with my Enrichment class, I was thrilled to share about Thanksgiving at a school assembly and today I had the opportunity to once again share something special about America.  Today I spoke to the entire school about the day set aside to honor Dr.  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.   In order for the kids to really understand what was going on when Dr. King was involved with the Civil Rights Movement, I did have have to go back several hundred years.  My talk started with slavery, the Civil War, then the Jim Crow laws, discrimination and segregation.  I showed photos of how separated things were in the south and of the terrifying KKK.   Then, after talking about such a sad part of our nations history, I got to talk about the hero of the day.  I was thri...

Today, as we were walking into the assembly, the head teacher (aka principal) pulled me aside.  With a smile on his face, he told me that we had a guest speaker today and I should make sure to introduce myself to her.  Who can resist an intrigue like that? I was of course very curious as to who this woman might be.  We were, of course, late for assembly, so by the time I got my kids seated, the assembly had started.  When she got up to speak though, I knew exactly why he had wanted me to introduce myself to her!  Sometimes, I realize that I don't even hear the English accent all that much any more and I wonder if I could even pick out an American accent since both now sound so familiar to me.  Well, I knew from the second she opened her mouth that she was an American and I had a pretty strong bet going that she was also a southerner. When I spoke to her after the assembly, I said, "You're not from around here, either!  So, where are you from?" ...

I am a few weeks behind on this blog, but I still wanted it to be shared! When my parents were here, we made a stop in York for a couple of days.  York is a beautiful, ancient walled city.  The city has been around much longer than our country has been and the walls that were built to protect this city can still be walked along.  There are quiet, narrow pedestrian roads through the center of the city where buildings as old as the city even lean towards one another. On our first night there, we found a great pub that had at one point been the wine cellars to a great abbey.  The pub was well lit, despite being underground, with curved ceilings made of brick that created a unique atmosphere.  This was just the first of many gems we were to discover in the ancient city! On our way home from the pub, we walked along the nearly deserted cobblestone roads, noticing signs in the shop windows or interesting names of streets.  I also noticed a couple of smal...