Paris: Day 2

Up early again for another fun day in Paris! As we headed out for another adventure, we walked into snow! I had seen snow on the forecast, but didn't think anything about it. In Kentucky when it calls for snow it rarely happens. But in Paris, when it calls for snow, it snows.

We headed out first to find the catacombs as it was a must see for all of us. But when we got there, it was closed until further notice. We were really bummed that we couldn't go in. But we picked ourselves back up and moved on to the Pompidou building.

The Pompidou building is very interesting, with all kinds of different structural designs on the outside. When we got there, the building wasn't open yet and the line was already down the street. We decided that it was too cold to wait in the line, and that since all the cool structural elements were mainly on the outside, we would just look and move on.

From there, we headed to Notre Dame. It is so pretty! the building is impressive itself, but inside is beautiful too. The stained glass is so colorful! Inside mass was taking place. I listened for a little while, then moved on.  We went up the towers too. There were so many stairs!!! By the time we got to the top my calves were on fire. But we made it and took some cool pictures from the top. We could see all around Paris. From here we spotted La Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre, and decided to go there next.

On our way to La Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre, we ran into another group from Western in Paris. It was such a coincidence! They told us it was worth it and to continue on with our venture, which we did. When we got there, they had just started mass, so I listened for a while here, then continued on looking. It was really nice inside. Outside there was another Christmas market we walked around, before heading back to the city.

After  La Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre, we headed to the Louvre. This building is so huge and impressive with all the art, we could not hope to see it all. Plus we were all exhausted from all the other sight seeing we had done, so we weren't at our best nor as appreciative of the art as would have been if we had just been starting out our day. But the museum was  free at this time, so this is when we went. It was still really cool! We saw all kinds of different pieces of art. We saw crown jewels, paintings, sculptures, a sarcophagus, and objects. We saw many famous things that I remember from history, and I took my picture with the Mona Lisa!

This trip to Paris was definitely an amazing trip. I saw so much and it was just overwhelming. I am so glad we took this trip on our long weekend, because there is just too much to see, otherwise. Now I can say that I have been to Paris too!

Paris: Ready, Set, Go!

For our long weekend, a group of us went to Paris! It was so exciting, fast-paced, and exhausting at the same time. Since we only had two days there, we got down to business.

On Thursday we saw Versailles! The palace is so beautiful! Everything is so beautifully decorated and impressive. And there is so much history there. We walked through the gardens around the palace, but since it is so cold, the statues have all been covered, the fountains are turned off, and there is nothing blooming. I bet is is really pretty when it is warm though. I would like to go back and see it someday.

After Versailles we headed to the Eiffel Tower. That is one tall monument! We had to walk a long ways away to be able to fit the entire thing in the picture with us. The Eiffel Tower is very impressive. And there are soldiers walking around it with guns. I didn't realize it would be so heavily guarded. Though this is one of the things you should definitely see when you go to Paris, we did not go up. We stayed on the ground and just took pictures of it. But we did come back later that night when it was all lit up for more pictures.

After being outside at the Eiffel Tower, we headed inside at the Musee d'Orsay. This museum had beautiful paintings from different time periods. The one I enjoyed the most was Impressionism. Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Renoir, Pissaro, and others were included in this exhibit. I love the colors and brush strokes. I aslo liked watching the paintings progress through time.

Back outside we went after the museum. We walked through the Tulleries Garden, but it was too dark to see anything. Then we walked down Champs-Elysees. This street was super busy with all the stalls out for the Christmas market. But it was so cool to see what everyone had to sell. After walking a ways the shops were repeats, but we kept going because we were going to walk all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. We made it, but it took us over an hour to get there. By the time we did, we were freezing! So we took our pictures and left. We went back to the Eiffel Tower for night time pictures, then headed home. This was a very busy, cram packed day. We had seen so much of Paris, and were exhausted!

Last week of school!

Ms. Mila is back!!! After her whole week away, she has recovered from her lack of voice and is back at school. Today the boys took an English exam. They did not do as well on these as they did not the science exams. The science exams were really good! Only three students total did not pass out of both classes. I was so pleased to hear this. It makes me happy to know they do well, especially with work I help them with. The first grade girls practiced their Christmas carol today. It is a song I have never heard before, called Hush, There's A Baby. They are so cute! They are very good at their song, too. They know all the words, but they don't always know what comes next because the song goes back to the beginning in the middle and repeats.

My last day was a sad one. The boys were sad to see me go. They made me pictures and postcards. One boy even made me a 3D representation of the school made from paper. It was impressive and so sweet. As a parting gift, I gave each boy coins from the US. They were so excited and wanted to show everyone. I explained what a nickel and a dime were, how much they were worth, and whose face is on each coin. Then we took a picture as an entire class.

It makes me sad to go, but I had a great time here. I learned so much with those boys. I now know what it is like to be in a classroom and not understand the language being spoken. My classroom management skills have improved after my week alone with the boys while my teacher was sick. It is great to go to another country though and see how they go through their school day and school year. Spain emphasizes different aspects than we do in the US. I would do it all over again. It was a great experience!!!

Lets do it again...

Ms. Mila is not here again today. But I am now used to this and know what to do! Each day I receive a plan for each class. I then fulfill it to the best of my abilities. Since the science exam was yesterday, today we should have started new material. But for today we continued reviewing and summarizing what they had already learned. Ms. Mila wanted to start the SUNRISE project, but she wants to be here for it. In the afternoon, we reviewed and practiced using vocabulary. The looked at a poster and wrote sentences using can, can´t, like, and don´t like. The boys are very good at this and like participating in the class. This lesson goes very well!

 Each class I am supposed to have a teacher in the class with me. However, sometimes the teacher doesn´t show up until halfway through the class. Most of the time the teacher didn´t even speak English, so I am still teaching all the classes. This is good thuogh. It shows the teachers here that I can teach and take on this responsibility and it helps me improve my classroom managements skills.

Don´t panic!

Tuesday Ms. Mila did not come to school at all. Thank goodness I knew where to go and  roughly what to do because no one came to tell me until after first period. My first class was girls art and towards the end I ran out of paper for them, so I told them to help the others. In the next classes the boys were taking a science exam. This is good. I was glad to have something to do with them. But there was one question they didn´t understand, so I had to explain it to them over and over. With the next class, I drew the chart on the board and showed them the vocabulary they were supposed to use. I then erased it before passing out the exams. I don´t know that this was the best idea, but they used the vocabulary and not a check or an x in the chart. I didn´t give the answers, just the options for each section. They knew what the vocabulary was, but there wasn´t instructions for the question, so they didn´t know how to answer.

In the afternoon it became a little more hectic. The instructions Ms. Mila left said to finish the activity we started the day before, but most had finished it, and a few only had a little left. So after they finished their work they practiced the Christmas carol, The Kings Are Coming to Town ( set to the tune of Santa Claus is coming to town, but they don´t celebrate Santa here). Then we played hangman using the animals and habitats from the exam they had just taken. Trying to keep them quiet was difficult, since they were all at different stages. But we made it through the day.

Just another manic Monday...

When I came to school on Monday, my teacher was hoarse. I knew that she would be leaving after lunch and I would have to teach, but now I was teaching all day. The day started alright and the students were responsive and engaged as I taught- after they had settled down. It took 20 minutes for me to establish myself as the teacher, while Ms. Mila worked with a student out in the hall. But after that they cooperated, were good, and did their work. The next class was the same, but it took Ms. Mila coming back in the class for them to straighten up. My classroom management skills have improved, but still not enough to continually keep them focus on their task, especially those that don´t speak English. One student and I are interacting much better now. This is a great improvement because he now sees me as a teacher and that he should listen. It took a lot of nos to get there though. I don´t think anyone has ever inforced no with him before. But there are other students who do not listen to me at all because they just don´t want to. Nothing is enforced here.I knew coming here that there was little classroom management, but I assumed the students would listen and obey if they understood what was asked of them. These students do not. I hope we build more of a relationship soon.

WEEKEND!!!

This weekend we had a lot of fun, but also some scary times. Audrey had an allergic reaction on Friday night and I had to take care of her. I was afraid we were going to have to go to the hospital at one point, but the Benadryl finally kicked in. On Saturday, we went to the Picasso museum. It was very nice inside. There were lots of beautiful pictures. Most we by Picasso, but a few were by others who had worked with him. We even saw some of Picasso´s pottery. On Sunday, we met Audrey´s teacher, and she showed us some fun places to go. We began at at tapas bar, and saw the beach. We were so excited to actually get to see the beach. We out our feet in the water, and the Joshs went swimming! We continued walking around and it was a great day. This weekend was kinda laid back, but still a lot of fun. It is great to see such amazing things here in Barcelona, and to meet such wonderfull and kind people.