Week Four: Mar. 4-11

Fiona Tumulty

Well, it finally happened–it rained! We had gorgeous, 70°and sunny weather all weekend when we were able to venture out to explore the Plaka district or sit on our balcony and catch up on some assignments as well as the dreaded edTPA, but as of Tuesday afternoon it has been raining on and off across Athens (good thing I packed my rain boots!) It’s actually confusing because literally one minute all you can see is blue sky, but if you go inside or look away the next minute it’s pouring rain. As a result of this rain, my JK students had to stay in the classroom for recess on my first half day of teaching, so you can imagine the stress I was under while trying to manage the behaviors of 14 preschoolers who really needed to just run around outside for a while. It all worked out fine though, and I’m glad to report that all in all my first half day (which is essentially a full day for my time in JK) went fairly well! We’ve recently started a new curriculum unit of health and nutrition, so the dramatic play center is now a doctor’s office and it is extremely popular! This unit couldn’t come at a better time, because we’re teaching the children how to wash your hands properly just as there is a wave of different strains of the flu sweeping across the country and through the school. The special education teacher I work with has already been out sick for two days, and I’m just praying that I don’t get sick because if I do, I know it’ll take forever for me to get back to 100%, and it is significantly more difficult to explore a new place (and teach of course) when you have the flu.

Lauren Montagna

To echo what Fiona said, the flu has been really taking out some students in the third and first grade this week!  We have been trying everything to help the students with their health, but sometimes it is a lot to keep an eye on all of them.  Hopefully this sickness will breeze past without any victims from Fiona or I!

I had my first half day this week!!  It was more exhausting than I expected.  I could see the students get a little confused with my increased presence in the classroom, but they seemed to respond well to my lessons.  I am sure that this is common for every other student teacher this semester, but it feels so weird to just jump in halfway through their time in first grade.  I think that the gradual increase in lessons and authority has certainly helped my credibility, but it is still a different from my fall placement.  Hopefully, by the time my half day and full days hit next week, the students would not really notice a difference in the teaching team.

Our plans for the weekend: check out the Mall of Athens.  Apparently it has a movie theater?  Will come back with details.

Greek Words Learned This Week:

“Stamata” – Stop

“Kalispera” – Good evening

“Kalimera” – Good morning

“Efcharisto” – Thank you