SARAH
Elementary Education
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SARAH
Elementary Education
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Oops. It’s been far too long since I’ve sat down to write a blog post. How has it been three weeks already? What!? Living here really feels like living in a sort of time warp - and not just because I’m surrounded by a medieval city. Some days fly by and are over before I’ve even noticed they’ve started, while others seem to drag on, the challenges of living in a new country piling on heavy. No point in sugar coating it, not every day is easy! I haven’t really had too many of these days, nor have I been very homesick since coming to Siena. Each day has been too full of novelty and learning that I haven’t had time to miss home. This weekend, however, I’m missing home a lot. When you’ve settled into a routine the sparkle of a new place begins to fade, and the monotony and loneliness can set in. Having spent an entire week with my family touring around Italy, getting back into a routine has been difficult for me. During spring break, I enjoyed being on my own schedule, choosing my own food, going wherever I please without having to explain myself or be home on time for dinner, and enjoying time with the people in the world I feel most comfortable with. It’s just been a bit of an adjustment getting back into a routine with my hosts and back to a normal schedule for myself. That being said, sliding back into a school routine was much easier than expected. The personal difficulties I’ve felt this past week are more than bearable when I reflect on the joy of learning with and from this incredible group of students and teachers. Having experienced post-vacation Mondays at home, I expected the kids to be all out of sorts in school on our first day back. This was so far from the reality! I was very impressed. The kids just picked right up where we left off before break! They were happy to see each other and excited to get back to our water unit. One girl came back on Tuesday because her family spent an extra day to go to Milan for a Mumford and Sons concert, she was mad because she wanted to be in school instead. Not making it up - this school is every teacher’s fantasy. In my previous blog post, I wrote about a water filtration project that our students were working on. They created their own water filters out of various materials to see which group’s filter could get muddy, sandy water the cleanest. This week, our class got to go to the MYP’s swanky science labs to conduct a similar experiment with the students from grade 9. They were given a mixture of sand and granulated salt, and had to separate the sand and the salt. They mixed the granules with water, sent the mixture through a filter to get the sand out, and then we set the salty water in our classroom to evaporate, leaving behind the salt crystals. It was amazing to watch the grade 9 students mentor the younger students. Our grade 2 kids were SO engaged. They listened to those older kids like every word coming out of their mouths was gold. This coming week, we’ll be wrapping up our unit on water and preparing to share our learning in a class assembly. The assemblies are entirely student-directed. The students chose which parts of their learning they feel is important to share with their parents and classmates. They decide their own roles, how they want to present the information, and, as a group, create their own program. We’ve covered so much this unit: from the water cycle to filtration, water usage around the world, and the lack of availability of clean water to millions around the globe. We’ve talked about lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan, Ryan’s Well, the water we use in our daily lives, at school, and how to use less of it. It is easy to see that the issue of water conservation has become a personal one to this particular group of students. I can’t wait to see how they tie it all together for the assembly. I’ll be sure to take pictures of the planning process and, of course, of the assembly itself.
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AuthorHello! Ciao! I'm originally from the rural Finger Lakes region of New York state, but I've lived in Michigan, Japan, South Korea, and now, Siena! I originally got into the field of education after teaching English in South Korea. I've continued to study education because kid-brains never cease to astound me. Apart from spending lots of classroom time with young children, I really love to run. I am excited to explore the gorgeous Tuscan hills on foot. Hopefully all the hiking will balance out the ridiculous amounts of pasta and cheese I am sure to consume. Thanks for following along! Archives
May 2019
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