Tales of a Traveling Teacher

Family, Friends and Readers, A couple of months ago, the Fulbrighters were informed that this program's funding had been cut drastically.  So much so, that as it now stands, I am in the last group of US teachers to teach in the UK as a Fulbrighter.  I understand that our government is making cuts in a wide variety of areas, but this has me truly heartbroken to think that this opportunity will not be opened up to others.  It has taken me a while to get all of my thoughts written down, and when I finally did sit down to write a letter, I realized how truly passionate about this I am.  I have copied the long-winded letter below.  I have sent it on to the co-ordinators of this program along with members of Congress from Alabama.  If you have any contacts with the "powers that be" please let me know or send this on to them. Thank you for your help and support. To Whom It May Concern: My guess is that you have had many travel opportunities througho...

Last night, the room got a little warm, so I opened the doors of the balcony to get some fresh air.  As I did, I peaked over at Mama Dove, as I always do.  She's been sitting on her nest for a week or so, and I was really hoping to see the baby before I left.  As I peaked over last night though, I discovered the baby was here!  The new little beauty must have been born at some point yesterday as it was not yet yellow or fluffy, but rather oily with those large bulging eyes  What a joy!  I am so excited that he is here and I'm thrilled I'll get to watch another one grow before I leave! This morning, when I peaked out to check on the new little angel, he was in the middle of a feeding session.  He's already changed!  No longer oily, but yellow with a little fluff!

Yesterday, after school, the teachers enjoyed strawberries and cream and Pimm's (a lovely British summer drink) with the governors of the school.  It was a great way to celebrate a wonderful year and visit with some of the people who help to make big decisions that have to do with our school. Since we were already in "party" mode, I invited the staff back to my flat for the evening.  I taught them about some of my favorite Alabama summer treats such as taziki cucumber dip, chicken dippin, fried okra and Jell-o!  We also ordered pizza, played Taboo and stayed up late laughing and sharing stories. Charlotte, Charlie ... and Steve The boys vs. girls game of Taboo got a little heated, so we had to very carefully make sure the other team wasn't cheating. Lorraine and Joe Steve and Gemma I feel so very blessed to have gotten to know these wonderful people who have made this year such a great experience!

Growing up, I was quite the picky eater.  I also did not love some of the finer healthier foods that I now appreciate.  For some reason, I had never really tried raspberries, they were not something we ever really had in the house. My senior year at Auburn, I went to New Zealand to do my student teaching.  It was an amazing experience teaching and living in such a beautiful country.  I was placed at a little bitty school where I had the opportunity to live with two of the families from the school.  The Sopers lived out a little ways where they had a some land and some sheep.  Their neighbors had a berry farm.  It was a treat getting to walk through the farm and pick fresh berries off of the vine.  It was then that I fell in love with raspberries.  Now, they are a treat for me, a special indulgence I allow myself to pack in my lunch every now and then during the summer. This week, as I ate my raspberries, as I always do, I was thought of m...

Sometimes, I forget to post much about my day to day life here in the UK and of course the real reason I'm here: teaching.  It is so weird for me to be teaching in July, but I'm making the most of it and I had a really great day today. My class has been studying the sun, moon and earth in science this term.  I decided to do one final activity with them today that I knew they would enjoy.  First, we talked about the phases of the moon, about how it takes 28 days for the moon to go from a new moon to a full moon and back again.  It is hard for the kids to grasp that half of the moon is always lit up, it is just that we don't always see that half.  After they got a pretty good grasp on this concept, I gave the pupils some oreos and they created the phases of the moon.  They were so much fun to watch, carefully shaping the cream using a popsicle stick and working well with their partners.  It was an activity that kids on all levels thrived on, and oh yes...

"Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma and Pa..." Last week as I was falling asleep these lyrics to a song playing on a car commercial made my heavy eyelids burst open again.  I was most intrigued that my home state was mentioned in a UK car commercial and of course I wanted to know more.  I quickly did some research and found the song "Home."  Its cheerful lyrics and upbeat tune have rapidly made this song one of my new favorites. As I'm nearing home, I am getting more excited to be with my family and friends.  It's not my house or even my bed that I'm most excited to be back to - it is all of those people who make my life so wonderful! "Home, let me come home.  Home is wherever I'm with you."

About a month and a half ago, our Year 6s took the dreaded SATs tests.  These tests are of similar nature to the standardized tests I do with my kids back home, but the format is very different.  These results, just like back home, are not only a reflection on the pupils, but also on the teachers and the school. This week, the scores came in and they were really spectacular!  The Year 6 pupils did a great job in maths, reading and grammar!  Today, I got to see my pupils scores and I am really incredibly proud of them!  I'm also thrilled that I'm not a weak link in the chain!  Testing is stressful for everyone involved, and it was especially stressful to me as I was trying to learn the best way to prepare the kids for a format I myself was unfamiliar with.  I can in absolutely no way take credit for these kids as they've had years of great teaching to get them to these levels, but I was just really thrilled to learn that my class did not bring the ave...