Wordless Wednesday

Journal Giveaway + Summer Lovin'

Hello!! For those that have started school already, I hope your year is off to a great start! I still have a few more weeks of relaxing (although I will go in next week to make copies and clean out my classroom).

Here's some photos from last weekend's {local} travel for a wedding:

(giveaway after the pics!)

forgot my camera so these are from the internet!

OK!! The giveaway!!

My kindergarten and first grade math bundles are finished!!! (second grade is coming)...

click on picture for more info

click on picture

 The giveaway!!

Hope to hear from you! I'm off to 'tea' at a friend's. Tea time in England-gotta love it!

Kelli xx

summer! & place value update!

I know many of you are getting ready to go back to school, but I have just finished school 2 weeks ago, so I am finally getting to rest and relax! 

Here's what I'm up to...I would love to hear what you did this summer!!!

1. Museums

 2. Parks

3. Cooking

 4. Bible study & Book study

 5. Anything! 
Thank you letters, teaching resources, skype with family and friends, coffee with friends

Finally finished this!!!

So tell me about your summer!

Oh and did you see this?

Kelli xx

How was your first day back?

Well, 2 alarm clocks and the morning that came very early...but it was a great day back! I was so excited to see my students! Super tired now though.

How are you doing? Is it really dark in the morning where you are? It's dark in the morning and dark by about 4:30 in the afternoon!

A word of a warning-my USB with all my lesson plans for my current school got a virus and I could not retrieve my lesson plans! Make sure you back your stuff up on Dropbox or something! I have medium term plans to cut and paste from, but I still had to do some over again...could've been worse, but lesson learned!

Here are some pictures from Christmas day with friends and a few days in the country with a friend.

Happy New Year everyone!
Kelli xx   

Hello! Salam! G'day! Guten Tag!

Hello!!! Hope your summer is relaxing and filled with loved ones.

Look at this SUPER CUTE bunting I saw in a store the other day!  I'm sure you could create this and hang it in your classroom {but I'm not that clever with the computer}. Anyway, I wanted to pass on the idea : )

 

I also came across this: printable international-flags-font (click on pic).

Thought it would go perfect with the Olympics.

 

The rest of the pictures are a random mix from going on walks and such (schools were on break this week). Check back soon and I will have pictures from Paris-ooh la la!

British classrooms #2 and Diamond Jubilee

Hello!! Busy week.......basically because the sun was shining for so many days in a row, which means I was outside until 9 or 10 o'clock to enjoy it each day!!!  I even got to wear shorts!! Come on London, let's keep it up all summer!

afternoon in a beer garden to enjoy the sunny weather!!

So, in my last post I was talking about my first private school experience (4 days at the same school last week). Here were some of my observations/notes:

the school was in a former church.....look at the stained glass windows!!

1)  It was Preschool 2 (reception-4 &5 yr olds) and they were doing really advanced stuff! I did a phonics lesson with them on oi/oy, sh/ch, etc and they understood it! They also wrote sentences independently!

2) They wear little blazers and ties with their uniform-like little adults.......uniforms....what do we think about these?

aprons on hooks

3) The class size was a bit smaller than classes in England (22 compared with 30......every class in England state schools has 30 almost always).

4) They have specialist teachers for P.E., music, ballet, etc. (this is not the case in state schools)

5) They had the most amazing lunches I have seen.......and all the kids in this class wore aprons! (sidenote.....the school feeds the staff for free.......Brie cheese, baguette, custard with cake......needless to say that I may have gorged myself in my 4 days at the school)........oh and there were 4-5 adults to monitor/help 50 students at lunch (I think schools in Arizona usually have 2 adults for 100 students??)

6) We did Aborginal art as they finished a unit on Australia. Love it!

7) They had French Day (remember France is only 2 1/2 hours away, and it seems most of these students had been there).........there was an assembly where students shared facts, art, etc. A parent came in that speaks fluent French and read a fairytale in English/French........wow, what a beautiful language!

8) The ladies I worked with were absolutely lovely to me. They invited me to sit in on a before school planning meeting and we ate lunch together. I might have applied for a job, but half of the staff was leaving......this usually raises red flags to me.

9) Packing up was excruciating. As independent as they were, I had to pack their bags for them while another teacher read a book to them!! This process included: fishing out all of their book bags from a tub, sorting reading log books, sorting phonics homework folder, and things from their trays. Ummmmm, this took FOREVER and they do it like this everyday! 

10) I like the way they mount and trim the students' artwork for displays (see below)

this displayed wasn't finished, but the teacher let me take a picture anyway

up close

"Mini-beast" unit...these are pictures created in Paint by the students. 

In conclusion, this particular school did not seem to be out-of-this-world type of education (no field or smartboards either!?), which sortof dispels the private school myth for me (although this is only 1 school). It was an interesting experience and the children were wonderful. It was an enjoyable week.

{{ Diamond Jubilee }}

The Queen has been reigning for 60 years and the celebrations for that are this weekend.all weekend.

It's kindof a big deal here.

I don't think I will ever need to see a Union flag or red, white and blue bunting ever again.

Every school, every pub, every store, everything.covered in jubilee stuff.

store front window

clothes!?

makeup counters

pub

Has there been much talk of this Diamond Jubilee in the States.......or mainly just about the Olympics? Busy summer for England!

Thanks for reading,

Kelli

British classrooms #1

Into the classrooms last week and this week! Behind with the blogging because I come home and work on looking for jobs or filling out applications : (

Anyway, here are some pictures from a day working in a nursery class (3 & 4 yr olds, I call it Preschool 1).......most children can write their name and know the basic 26 sounds! Crazy.

It was a nice day, but I found the time to go by so   s l o w l y  as I helped children paint, etc. It was developmentally appropriate and all, but it reminded me of when I worked at a daycare back in the day. But it's good to have experiences.

lots of rainy days ya know!

a whole lot going on in this preschool room!

3 little pigs construction, etc (they made a house in their outside play area)

 I LOVE the journeys to school (when it's not raining)!  It is so different from being in my car so much as I did back in Arizona.  There is something so amazing to me that I can walk, take a bus/tram/train to get to work and be outside more. People find that strange here, but I love public transport!!
 

cricket in the park after school---have you ever seen a cricket match??

I will never tire of enjoying the color of the doors, ha!

This week I assisted in a reception class (I call it Preschool 2), it has 4 & 5 yr olds, it's all day, is mandatory in this country, and free unless it's a private school.....don't you wish we had free, mandatory preschool in America?

So this job was for most of the week, Tuesday-Friday. And it was at a private school, the first one I've worked at in England. The families pay £10,000 a year!! This school just has nursery, reception and Year 1 (kindergarten). Imagine paying £10,000 each year starting from when the child is 3 years old??!! A lot of money! So I thought this school would be flawless, super meticulous,etc. right?


On that note, I think I will leave you hanging as this post has become quite long!! I will do another post later in the week with photos from the school and a freebie!!


Hope the end of your school year is near/already here!!

Kelli