Week Three of England Student Teaching

Teaching Math and Taking Over the Class

This week in Mathematics we started teaching our third grade class fractions! I was very excited because besides teaching Physical Education, I hadn't really got any full class teaching in until this week. So Tuesday I started with an introductory lesson on fractions, teaching the most common fractions and working in the vocabulary, supporting and modeling the terms for fractions and their parts, and showing how to split a whole in equal parts. Students really loved the hands-on activity I used, in which we created a fraction wall to show how one whole can be split into equal parts (1/2, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, 1/12, 1/3, 1/5, etc.). I gave students three different colored strips of paper so that they could split halves and quarters with one color, split thirds and sixths with another color, and split fifths with the last color.
To the right, I have put a picture of the classroom fraction wall I hung in our classroom that I made along with the class when they worked with their strips of paper, in which we as a group folded and labeled our strips, and discussed how they create one whole as I posted my strips on our Mathematics bulletin board. The students were highly engaged in the activity and were excited to see how the could break down a whole into equal parts, especially when I said, "Okay, keep folding again, now undo your folds and count how many equal parts we have split our whole piece into, what is this fraction?" Students caught on very fast to this activity and understood how the whole visually broke into equal parts. 

The next few days, I continued to teach Mathematics and used our previous activity to model to students how to look for the fraction and how to write it. We continued with identifying and shading fractions, then the last two days we worked on equivalent fractions and my higher level students worked on adding fractions with similar denominators. I noticed that building the fractions wall provided my students with the support at looking at how the fractions was written, identifying equivalent fractions, and adding fractions. 

Taking Over the Class
I also got the chance to teach the class for two whole days while my cooperating teacher was out at a conference. I had an assistant teacher in the class which helped me prepare for each morning and also worked with groups when breaking the class up in different levels, but mainly I was independently teaching the class and getting to step into the lead role teacher. It was interesting for me to see how my cooperating teacher's attention getters would work, how classroom management and behavior management provided me with control of the classroom and the schedule for the day, and what students were really capable of doing when I was full time teaching and challenging their skills.

 I felt that even though my teacher used some good tools to get student's attention, they were not automatically recognizing that I wanted their attention and that a different attention tool needed to be utilized for me not to have to repeat myself and wait to gather all of their attention. My CT used a bell and a shaker, but after the first day of this not working quite so well for me, I decided to teach students a clapping pattern in which I asked them to repeat when I started and wait for directions. This provided me with an opportunity to see who was not paying attention and quickly provide a way to break up the noise and talking in the classroom.

I also learned in the two days of full time teaching how the classroom behavior chart was not useful in the classroom. The whole school has in place a system in which they use a chart in the classroom to track student's behavior, like the PBIS system that some school use in the states. But this system uses three cards, a privilege card which supports students in working hard and recognizing outstanding behavior, a warning card which is supposed to warn children about their behavior and asking them to take a short time out, and then a consequence card which can land them in another classroom for a time out or in detention during lunch. The problem with this system is that most teachers have a different way of getting to each card, with the fact that my teacher gives several warnings, more than three or four, before she even gives out a warning card, and when giving out a consequence card the student has to do something that is repeated again after getting a warning card or if it is heinous. But even when my teacher gives students a warning card or consequence card, they do not get any real consequence because she will usually have a short talk with them and then not even give them a timeout. Or her verbal warnings are repeated throughout the lesson but then nothing happens to them, so they have no consequence for the behavior or actions that have interrupted or stopped the lesson many times. I felt during teaching that it was best to give students three warnings about their behavior, and if they continued a fourth time they would get a yellow warning card and they would serve a timeout during their own time. If I had to continue warning them after already getting a warning card, they would them get a consequence card and would serve an extended amount of time or lose all of their break and would have to complete the work that they were not doing during the lesson. I felt that this gave me more control of the behavior in the classroom and allowed me to not have to stop my lesson so many times just to remind one or two students of their behavior. Although students were not used to this system that I was using, they seemed to understand by the second day that I was not going to give them open warnings without their being a consequence for their actions if warned many times. I felt that even though this was not the way my CT did things, the class understood that negative behavior or interruption of learning was not going to be accepted and that I would acknowledge their behavior if it was not going to be tolerated.  I felt that within the two days of full time teaching, it provided me with control of the classroom as the lead of the class and helped students understand the importance of learning and being engaged in the activity. 


From this change in utilizing these two tools differently, I found that my students worked harder and were more focused in the activities we did and allowed me to challenge their learning to see what they were really capable of doing. My students worked hard for me and worked well in their groups, and this allowed me to assess their learning and see how they could be challenged in future lessons. I was excited to be able to challenge them and help them move forward in learning new knowledge and skills. I think this was the reason why Mathematics this week was so fun for me because I could really see how students worked, what they understood, and how I could extend the lesson the next day to include new skills or even provide more support based on their knowledge and engagement.

Overall, I felt very confident as a teacher after being able to teach full time for two days because my students worked so hard for me and because I could implement new strategies to teaching that improved the success of the classroom and the environment for learning. 

Week Two of Student Teaching in England!

During my second week of England student teaching, I started to feel more comfortable about traveling on public transportation to get to school and learned all about the head teacher's responsibilities. As I came to understand how to get to school easier, the stress and anxiousness of walking and trying to catch a train everyday seemed to start to fade. I felt more confident of traveling by myself and definitely felt I was learning how to become less dependent on wanting my car back! Even though I miss my car, I did start to realize the experience and usefulness of having to use public transportation. I also felt I started to understand how important it was to be very attentive when walking in a big city. Not only did I become more knowledgeable of my surroundings, but unlike in the states, pedestrians do not have the right-away from cars. I almost got hit by a car a few times crossing the street because I didn't stop to wait for the car thinking they would wait for me!

I also started to learn a lot about the head teacher's responsibilities and how I can become more involved in the classroom. In England, there are not usually specialty teachers for music, physical education, or art, so the head classroom teacher is in control of organizing lessons and integrating these topics into the curriculum. The first week, I mostly observed how the teacher did taught these subjects, what was her focus, and how she planned for these topics. This week, my CT asked me if I wanted to teach physical education, which I excitedly agreed to do! I spent the days before the lesson reviewing what they teacher had done and planning how I would teach the second stage of gymnastics, which involved teaching students to balance on three and four major parts of their bodies.

On the day of the lesson, I decided to follow what my CT had done and ask the students to first warm up their bodies by walking, jogging, and stretching. Then after grouping students in groups of four, I asked the students to show me one way to use three or four major body parts to balance themselves. Some students were creative thinkers and chose to use their elbows and feet, or their hands and one foot. Some other students used what they had learned from the last lesson to show me a crab stance(two and and two feet). After allowing students to get some movement in practice, I asked them to think about how they would use all four major body parts to walk like a bear. Students were to get into position, make sure they had balance, then try to walk or move forward in this position. Most students showed me they understood how to do this, but I allowed some students to model it from their mats so that the rest of the class had an example. After trying a few other movements using three and four major body parts, I gave groups five-seven minutes to create a sequence of movements as a group, showing what they learned on how to use three or four major body parts to balance themselves. After allowing them to review what we learned, I asked students to join me in cooling down to slow our heart rate down.

Some of the improvements I would make to the next lesson in gymnastics would include reviewing with students safe ways to use the mats before starting the lesson so that I would not have to remind individual groups of safety hazards, having creative ways to warm up and cool down our bodies, and teaching an attention tool(get student's attention) so that the echo in the hall gym was a utilization of getting student's. The reason I mention the echo of the room is that when I taught this lesson, I was also sick and could not vocalize well, so the echo of the room made it rather difficult for me to get student's attention with my voice. I used a clap pattern, but also felt some student's could not hear me. As I reflected over this lesson, I believe that using a different attention tool, like a cheer or body movement like jumping on two feet, may have worked more efficiently in a room that may not allow for a noise maker. I believe this can improve the next lesson I teach in physical education.

I also attended my first planning meeting with my grade level teachers and observed and noted how they organized and planned for each week. Teachers in one grade level plan and stay on task level for mathematics, literacy, science, and topic (subject area usually social studies or integration of literacy). The teachers review the New National Curriculum for GB and rewrite standards based on ability and grade level. Then teachers fill out a table that labels each session(day) and the learning goal, description, steps to success, and assessment for each session and the overall outcome at the end of the week. Teachers must include resources and tools they will use to teach each learning goal. Teachers also not in their outline for each session the differentiation of ability levels, showing what each level will work on and who(the teacher, assistant, or independent) will be working with them. I found this tool very useful when look at the next week for teaching math. The teachers use the same format for teaching literacy, but also talk about how they will extend and integrate literacy into a topic, for example, if students are writing about the seven highest summits in the world in literacy, they will be researching and exploring the seven summits in topic and doing art, design, or even computing to integrate the topic. Sometimes the teachers plan literacy for two weeks or more ahead, so that they can look to see how they will integrate literacy across the curriculum. I appreciate the way the grade level teachers plan and work together to organize the lessons and learning goals for each week because as a new and upcoming teacher, I feel that it provides teachers with support and assistance in planning, collecting resources, knowing your objectives and learning goals, and how to assess your students. 

From this planning meeting, I was able to use the outline for mathematics to plan and write out my formal lesson plans for teaching fractions next week, which was the first lesson I would be observed by my study abroad university supervisor. The outline gave me all the tools and knowledge to plan my lessons and see how I would move forward in teaching mathematics throughout the next week.

Additionally, I volunteered to work with the group of students with down syndrome that were coming to our school for a day of play and exploration outside, a collaboration made between my school and two other schools to set up activities and games for children and parents to engage and learn through interaction. I have a strong interest in working with students with disabilities, one of the main reasons I am working towards my special education certification. This was the first chance I was able to observe children with down syndrome in their natural environment, see who they interact and engage with each other based on knowledge of each other and also common attributes, how they engaged with activities, and how to respond to their interaction and behavior towards the activities set up. It was interesting to see that many of the students were highly engaged and interested in the music performance that they did with a music specialist, who came and set up drums and music instruments that the students could use. He utilized visuals, examples, and modeling with his body and voice on directions and was able to keep student's attention. It was also a great learning opportunity for me to engage with them personally, learn to have a conversation and feel comfortable in how I communicate and engage with them. I found it very empowering to see some skills that these students really excelled in, like art, exploration, and design. Overall, it provided me with an opportunity to utilize some of the activities, tools, and strategies of engagement that I learned from others and from myself by working with these students for a day!

Paris, France!

Mollie, Me, and Micah (From Left) in front of the Louvre

No city in the world is like the romantic and beautiful city of Paris, France! On arrival, I got my first glance of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, which seemed to be a dream that was staring me in the face as our coach bus drove around it to give us a quick view of the landscape we would soon explore! As we pulled up to our hotel, I was anxious and excited to see how we would be spending our weekend in France! Creatively, I chose to ask one of the girls I had met from the Brighton study abroad group to room with me in the hotel so that I could start to get to know this group more and make more friends. I had met Micah, Mollie, and Crystal in Rye and had spent the afternoon with them. 

After getting settled in our hotel room and finding out our next meeting time, Mollie and I explored our room! Our room was so small, the two twin beds that we would sleep on were practically pushed together, there was about two inches between the beds! We also found a way to turn television shows that were in French to English so that we could watch TV and actually understand it, although after all that work we both fell asleep after dinner without barely watching any shows! We met up with the entire group of study abroad students to take a trip on the Bateaux, which was a river cruise on the Seine to see all the major sites of Paris! Although it was freezing, Mollie, Crystal, and I couldn't help but stay on the rook seating to look around and take pictures of all the scenery. (On left) I also took a selfie on the boat, just to show that I had my best Paris fashion on my first exploration in Paris! 

After the ride, Mollie, Micah, Crystal, and I found a Crepe Cafe where we all ordered different crepes and tried each others, just so we could get a taste of each to decide the best one! They were all so good, my favorite being the dessert crepe! Yum!

The next day we had a delicious breakfast in the hotel(for free!) before we headed on our way to climb up the Eiffel Tower. Our hotel was only about a ten minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, which we also got walk through Champ de Mars, which is a large flat open are called Grenelle, which was reserved for market gardening.
 I paid four euro to walk up the first two flights of the Eiffel Tower, then you have to take a lift up to the very top! It was exciting, invigorating, and nerve-racking all at the same time. There are three levels, each level you can walk around ll sides of the Eiffel Tower! The are restaurants on the first level and second level, which used to be a very famous place for well-to-do people to gather and socialize. Unfortunately, I was only able to spend about ten minutes at the top before having to make my way back to ground level. 

1st Level

The view was so captivating, and each level, even though I was looking at the same views every time I walked around each side of the tower, seemed to be even more beautiful and breathtaking!

1st Level

History of Eiffel Tower: The design was originated by Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier. Foundations started on January 28, 1887. It took over two years to complete and opened for exposition on May 6, 1889. Nearly 1,896,987 people came in the first year. On the second level, the french newspaper, Le Figaro, had an office and printing press. On the third level there was a post office. Today the structure stands 324 meters tall (1,063 ft) and was the tallest building in the world from 1889-1930. The tower had a permit to only stand for 20 years, to be dismantled in 1909, but the City of Paris took it over and it was officially declared a historical monument in 1964.

Climbing the Eiffel Tower, on 2nd Level

Looking down at que of people from 2nd level

View at 2nd Level

View at top

View at Top

After visiting the Eiffel Tower and trekking back down to ground level, we shared some frites (fries) before heading to the Les Invalides, Napoleon Bonaparte's place of burial.

We took a quick picture before getting back on the coach bus to drive through the red light district, where we passed Moulin Rouge! 

Then we had some free time to explore the small shops and bargain markets when we got to Sacre Coeur, the beautiful Sacred Heart Church. After making the long walk up the stairs to the entrance of the church, Mollie and I walked around the church before going back down to grab lunch at a small french cafe! We both had classic subs on french bread! Then we shopped for awhile, which I found the cutest Paris scarf to match my new tote bag! We even saw a street performer, who wasn't very good at staying still, and did not look any better than Goldmember from Austin Powers in all gold. 

Our next stop was Notre Dame, where we got a quick walk of the inside before heading to the Louvre, where Mollie, Micah, and I went to see Mona Lisa! 
To get to the Louvre, Mollie, Micah, and I walked through the Tuileries Garden, which was filled with beautiful and historic sculptures and art pieces of important figures and famous works. We passed through the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. The larger and more famous Arc de Triomphe is located in a straight line all the way down Champs Elysees (all long way down this historic boulevard). The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel was made between 1806-1808 by the Emperor Napoleon I on the model of the Arch of Septimius Seerus in Rome. We actually got into the museum free of charge because we were study abroad students! 

There is over a 1,000 years worth of art and sculptures in the museum, which would take even an average person 26 years to see every piece in the museum! Although the museum was large, the climb up the first set of step was definitely worth the breathtaking sight of the "Winged Victory" at the top of the staircase, which is a second century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike, discovered in 1863, said to be made in 190 B.C. As we kept walking up the stairs, we had a mission to see one certain piece of art, but on the way I also got a glimpse of Aphrodite, Renaissance paintings, and finally, the Mona Lisa!
 I was in awe with excitement and unreality that I was mere feet from this extraordinary and stunning painting, which indulged me to take a selfie!
 We were actually lucky to get to see the Mona Lisa, in time before the museum closed!
We decided to walk up Champs Elysees, the historic boulevard full of famous and posh shops and restaurants, to the Arc de Triomphe, which ended up being a very long walk that took at least an hour! In the end, the walk was worth it because of the view of the Arc de Triomphe at night and the chance to be crazy enough to stand on a median in the middle of a busy four lane street in Paris to get a picture! As we started back towards the Eiffel Tower to find a place to eat dinner, we knew that we wanted to find a place for Italian food. Obviously, we knew there were many places to eat and our hotel was close to the Eiffel Tower, so we used the beacon to find our way there. The beacon sends out two bright light beams that pivot all the way around the Eiffel Tower, bright enough to see from miles away. When we got to the Eiffel Tower, we took a short walk through under the tower, gazing up at it's magnificence as we made our way one block over to a place called Pasta e Pizza. Micah, Mollie, and I all got what we wanted; in which I got a delicious bowl of spaghetti bolognese and also tried a slice of Micah's margarita pizza, which was delightful too! Before going back to the hotel, we decided to go back to the Eiffel Tower to stop at one of the food trucks that sells desserts, which we shared churro sticks covered in chocolate sauce!! Hit the spot! Despite the entire day being a thrilling day, I really badly wanted one of the light-up mini Eiffel Tower souvenirs that the street vendors were selling. Everywhere you went street vendors selling souvenirs and toys were following you trying to get you to buy their items. It is weird that these vendors can usually be seen anywhere you go, except when the police arrive, they disappear in just minutes, usually unseen before you even see the first police officer. 
After declining offers all day from vendors and knowing I got most of what I wanted in Paris, I still badly wanted to bargain for a mini Eiffel Tower that light up in multiple colours. The first vendor I tried to bargain with wouldn't take less than five euros; but eventually after trying two other vendors and bargaining one vendor from five to three euros by showing him I only had three euros left in cash, I got my light-up mini Eiffel Tower! It took effort, persistence, and even a little trickery to get the vendor to take my offer, but I learned the trick was to walk away and then usually they would run after you trying to offer a better deal, until you talk them down to the price you want to pay. Subsequently, the whole time Mollie and Micah are sitting back watching me walk back and forth between different vendors, eyeing me up as I trying to bargain, and observing all the tricks I used to finally get the souvenir! They died laughing when I finally walked up with a huge smile on my face and  the souvenir in my hand like a proud and excited child! I even got a picture with my mini Eiffel Tower, scaling up to the real Eiffel Tower. 



The last day in France, our study abroad group went to the Palace of Varseilles, which was an astonishing palace that I also got admittance in for free for being a study abroad student! Score!
 I spent all of four hours that we had to explore the palace, visiting the Grand Apartments of the King and Queen, the Chapelle Royale, Salon de Venus, the Formal Gardens, the Hall of Mirrors, the apartment of the Dauphin (the crown prince), and the Trianon Palace and Marie-Antoinette's Estate. The entire palace was stunning, so much to see of the awe-inspiring and overwhelming amount of history, elegance, and art. 

Outside the front of Palace of Varseilles

The Formal Gardens

Chapelle Royale (Royal Chapel)

The Gardens of Varseilles were once the Domaine Royal de Varseilles. Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover almost 2,000 acres of land, much of which is landscaped as the classic French Garden perfected by Andre Le Notre. The garden contains over 200,000 trees, 210,000 flowers planted annually, 50 fountains, 620 water jets, and 58 acres of the Grand Canal. 



The Chapelle Royal, begun in 1689, was the fifth chapel for the focal point of Louis XIV's and was to become one of the largest royal chapels at Varseilles. 

The Great Hall of Mirrors

The Great Hall of Mirrors is the principle and most remarkable feature of King Louis XIV's third building campaign of the Palace of Varseilles, was constructed from 1678-1684. The architect, Jules Hardouin Mansart joined three rooms from each apartment as well as the terrace that separate the two apartments with the construction of the Hall or Mirrors. The principal feature of this hall is the seventeen mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arched windows that overlook the garden. Each arch contain 21 mirrors, totaling the number of mirrors to 357 used in the decoration of the hall.

During the seventh century, the hall was used daily by King Louis XIV when he walked from his private apartment to the chapel. At this times, courtiers assembled to watch the king and member of the royal pass and might make a particular request to the king at this time. In successive reigns, the hall continued for family and court functions. Embassies, births, and marriages were celebrated in this hall. 


Undoubtedly, visiting the sites of Paris and going to Palace of Varseilles was one of the best trips I have gone on so far! I absolutely enjoyed every minute of being in France, besides the rude and pesky French who were no help in understanding things sometimes. Although the language was a barrier, I did learn a lot of going to a country with a foreign language and how I would be able to adjust, engage, and understand the culture and country during my travels. I also enlightened me to how to communicate in a foreign country and how to catch on to the unknown language. In the end, going to France definitely and me want to travel other places in Europe!

Celebrating November 5th, in Lewes

Holding a torch at the Bonfire procession in Lewes

If you read my last blog on the celebration of November 5th, you will know that Britain celebrates the execution of Guy Fawkes, a man who fought in the Eighty Years' War on the side of Catholic Spain. He traveled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England but was unsuccessful. He later met Thomas Wintour, and in his return to England, was introduced to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. They secured the lease to an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. An anonymous letter prompted the authorities to search Westminster Palace on November 5th, and found Fawkes guarding the explosives. Fawkes became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in Britain since November 5th 1605. 

In celebrating this event each year, many towns around England hold huge bonfire events, processions, and parties. One of the largest celebrations held in England is put together in Lewes, East Sussex, a small historic town with tiny brick roads on a large hill side, with many little shops and pubs. 





Thousands of people gather for this event, towns and bonfire organizations gather to put on a procession and walk around Lewes with huge torches.







People dress up in costumes and make up and parade around the town for a couple of hours before lighting various massive bonfires on all sides of the town. 

People light off fireworks and carry torches around as they show their support for their country and for the execution of Guy Fawkes. 












The procession has many different parts, in which support the military, towns, and organizations that help fund this large event each year.

People collect donations, sell food and drinks, and gather together in the streets to support each other. 

 It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget, so many different things to see and so many people that gathered and dressed up. 

All the costumes and the entire procession as so interesting and extravagant, literally one of the most exciting and outrageous parades I have ever seen in my life.

I had so much fun at the event, met a couple from London who kept me warm and drank with me! I had fun meeting new people and experiencing this once in a lifetime event! 

Selfie during the procession!

I have also added a video below to show how they start off the procession in Lewes, it is at the bottom of this blog.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!