Tales of a Traveling Teacher

After school today, I popped up to the High Street, which is basically the main street of any town or village.  I went to the post office, the market and the bank before walking home, all in well under an hour.  I am certainly going to miss being able to walk from home to school, restaurants and shops!  What a treat!

You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl...

Who knew that I could go on a safari just a few miles from my current home here in England?  Today I took the girls to Woburn Safari Park in the neighboring village.  We drove through animals roaming free in hopes of some close encounters and were quite pleased with how close the animals were!  Tigers, bears, wolves, rhinos, lions, elephants, zebras and many more animals were never far from the car as we joined the crowds of people driving through the Safari Park. I believe the scariest moment for me came when it appeared the ostrich was coming straight for the car.  I know that I should be more afraid of the possibility of lions or tigers approaching the car, but for me, there is something terrifying about a bird that can look you in the eye.  I was pecked by geese growing up and knew how much their beaks could hurt; I can't even imagine what damage one of those giant birds can do! The lions were near the road, lounging, trying to soak up the sun through ...

I truly loving having people over and playing the role of hostess, so I thoroughly enjoyed today! We started with a traditional southern breakfast, then some shopping, a visit to the Duke of Bedford's Home (Woburn Abbey), afternoon tea, a girly movie, a lovely dinner at the pub and karaoke at another pub! What a fun filled Saturday!

It's so much fun to have friends visit! These friends are from all over the US who I have gotten to know through the Fulbright program who, like me, are spread out around this country. It is beautiful here now and I'm hoping for a beautiful day tomorrow to show them around my current home.

Yesterday morning, just after 4am, the teachers, staff and 120 or so children met at school.  Every single person who had planned to be there showed up.  No one slept through their alarm clocks or ran late, even at such an unheard of hour.  I was thoroughly impressed, but that was only the beginning of my day of awe! We arrived at Birmingham Airport (no, I didn't take a wrong turn, that is Birming hum  not ham ) and were greeted on our coaches by Monarch Air employees.  They checked each of the kids in on the bus and gave them their boarding passes.  We were then ushered through the security checkpoint and onto our private plane. I must admit that I was very anxious about keeping up with the ten children that were in my care.  I'm always anxious on a field trip, but going through an airport and flying internationally with a group of kids could have been an absolute nightmare.  I greeted the ten children yesterday morning early, only knowing a ...

When I was young, one of my favorite crafts was a God's eye.  They were so easy to make, that the only problem seemed to be where to put them all!  The knitting club that Kelly started, and I have kept up, grew quite rapidly, mainly during those colder months when being inside for a club rather than outside during lunchtime was very appealing.  Nevertheless, the club was so large and there were so many children who wanted to create, that I couldn't turn them down, nor could I really teach them all to knit.  So, it just became a creative club.  Children knit, crochet, finger knit, braid or twist, whatever they can do.  Even many boys have come along and made bright colored "extensions" for their hair or tried their hand at knitting.  I was recently reminded of God's eyes and decided that would be a great thing to introduce to the kids. A few of the girls recognized the craft, but only a very few.  It wasn't long before several tables were full of...

About three weeks ago, the head teacher at my host school entered a contest with Monarch Air. About two weeks ago, he found out that we were one of three schools to be chosen for the day trip of a lifetime, and well, it truly was! I boarded a flight with the year 7 and 8 pupils and flew to Dubrovnik, Croatia for the day! It was like traveling to a new world: a gorgeous ancient walled city on the coast on an absolutely perfect, 70 degree weather day. I ate a three course lunch while sitting in the sun under an orange tree then walked along ancient city walls. It was absolutely stunning and so very surreal to be in such a different place and back home again within the span of a day! I'm incredibly grateful that I got the opportunity to travel with such a well behaved group of kids on a field trip that will quite probably never be topped!

It is Tuesday night and I have a friend spending the night - yes, on a school night!  My dear friend and fellow colleague, Charlotte, and I have enjoyed a truly girly night.  We ordered Indian take away and watched Pitch Perfect, a wonderfully cheesy chick flick about some a cappella groups.  We both sang along and smiled at the totally predictable ending. There is good reason to have Charlotte spending the night though...  Our alarms are set for 3:30am as we are both meeting over 100 pupils and about 20 other staff members at school just after 4 to fly to Dubrovnik (Croatia) for an all expenses-paid day trip!  The head teacher at our school entered a contest through Monarch Air and won!  I'm so very excited!  I hope I can get at least some sleep tonight!

Earth Day, a day set aside to do good things for our Mother Earth, is often celebrated or recognized at home.  I have done some research and it appears that it is an international day, but no one I spoke with today seemed to know about it.  So, of course, I did my best to share it with my classes. Our character word this month is responsibility, and I felt that truly went hand in hand with Earth Day.  So, at the start of each lesson we either watched a clip of the Lorax or I shared a quote from the story.  This is one of my very favorite stories.  It was made into a full length motion picture last year, but I have yet to see it.  Dr. Seuss, the marvelous author that he is, did a beautiful job of creating an entertaining story with a very strong message.  His whimsical characters intertwine with a powerful story, reminding us to be responsible for the future and not just think about the here and now and so often what drives us, money.  There's a ...

This afternoon, Stephanie and I sat in the warm sunshine and chilly breezes near the pier at Brighton, a large town along the English Channel enjoying fish and chips. And I don't think we were the only ones who enjoyed it...

A few months ago, Stephanie, my fellow Fulbrighter and I heard that you could visit the 100 Acre Wood, the home of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh. That was really all we needed to know, and plans were made! We decided to wait until the Spring, and I'm glad we did, as the sun was out in full swing today highlighting the thousands of yellow daffodils along our journey. We started at Pooh Corner in Hartfield, a tiny village south of London. This is the village where A.A. Milne lived and inspired by many of the things around him, he created the beloved Winnie the Pooh. We sat outside in the warmth of the sunshine at Piglet's cafe and enjoyed berry tea and scones with jam and clotted cream before setting off through the Hundred Acre Wood to play Pooh Sticks! There is an old bridge in the forest running over a stream that inspired the wonderful past time of Pooh Sticks. Stephanie and I carefully selected several sticks along our journey to the bridge. The game is one of gr...

We in the South love our football.  And by South, I mean the Southern states.  And by football, I mean American football.  We are incredibly passionate about our teams, supporting them through thick and thin and putting down whatever team they come up against.  Admittedly, it is a bit extreme, but I love it!  I absolutely love the game, despite the fact that I really can't throw or catch a football.  Besides the game itself, which with the team I support always seems to be a nail-bitter no matter the skill of our team, I love the pageantry of it all.  I love the band, the team colors, the cheerleaders, the fans, the songs and the traditions. In the state of Alabama, there are no professional football teams, no NFL teams, so college football rules all.  There are two main teams: Auburn and Alabama.  I'm surprised that on moving to the state, on your official documentation that you don't have to tick a box next to one of them.  It seems ...

On my first day here, all by myself, I set out on my first adventure: going to the fish and chip shop. Excited and nervous, I had just left my building when I encountered a curious orange tabby. My own cat of over fourteen years had just passed away and so knowing that there were cats around made me instantly feel quite at home. Since then, Jasper (I later learned was his name) often greets me coming too and from school. He's become friendlier and friendlier, often running to greet me and almost instantly purring and drooling. It's always a bright spot in my day! :) This blustery day, after a wonderful day at school was no different: we were glad to see each other!

The doves that live on my balcony have been a wonderful comfort for me.  They were here upon my arrival in August and hatched a precious little creature in September.  They were gone for a few weeks in the autumn, but otherwise have slept on the balcony nightly.  Sometimes, I open the doors, but they immediately fly off or just shy away looking at me quite curiously.  Early on, I tried giving them some bread, but as they never touched it, I haven't tried again. The past few days I have watched as one dove, the father I assume, has proudly brought twig after twig after twig onto the balcony.  I've thoroughly enjoyed watching as he struts up, working tirelessly to provide the supplies for the nest while the mother carefully gathers the twigs around her, making the perfect home for her future young.  I have not seen an egg yet, but I am certain this warm spring air will bring about another hatching sometime soon! The carefully prepared nest

This afternoon, with the sun high in the sky surrounded by blue skies, I went for a walk in the woods. It was the first day of the summer term, and while it certainly doesn't feel like summer yet, there's certainly a warmth in the air that shows signs of a spring finally showing her face! I went for a walk through the woods that I had not been to since they were covered in snow. The pathways were much easier to find this time since they weren't covered in several inches of white flakes! The ground was covered in green shoots, signs of new life. I stopped on the path once to watch a small deer who hadn't yet spotted me. She walked lightly across the path before and when she finally took notice of me, lifted up her white tail and darted into the forest. At one point, I believe I came upon the backside of an estate because there were hundreds if not thousands of golden daffodils. What a beautiful way to start this school term.