First Day at Saint Thomas School

The first day of school started bright and early with a wonderful (as usual) breakfast as a group. We were picked up by a taxi and taken to school at about 7:15am. Samantha and I are both student teaching at Saint Thomas so we went together.

School started with a flag raising ceremony. They played the national anthems of both the Dominican Republic and the United States. Then, students went inside to begin classes. I am teaching Social Studies in grades 8-12. My host teacher seems very nice, and the students like her. I am glad that I know a little Spanish, because the classes switch between English and Spanish a lot. School is so different here.

Here are some other observations I made throughout the day:

-Class sizes are much smaller.

-Students are much louder.

-They like to crowd together in a big group rather than stay in rows of desks.

-Soccer is VERY important. (There is a big tournament this week.)

-Students wear uniforms.

-My school is air conditioned and very cold.

-The students are very good at reading aloud in English, even though it is their second language. I would say that they are better than most American students!

-My classes use American textbooks, and they are very nice and new!

-Students do not rush out of class when the bell rings. They kind of stroll in and out as they please.

I’m looking forward to great learning experience while I work with the students and staff at Saint Thomas! It was a great first day!

We Have Arrived in Santo Domingo!

So our group of 6 CMU student teachers has finally made it to the last part of our degree program! After arriving at the airport in Detroit at 4:30am yesterday we traveled to Miami and then to our destination of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic! We are staying in the cutest apartments with sisters named Adela and Estelle.

Last night we had our first “Dominican” meal of spaghetti. I thought that was funny because I went out for a big Italian dinner right before leaving because I thought we wouldn’t be eating any pasta for the next 5 weeks. After dinner we sampled some other Dominican things such as El Presidente cerveza, and coconut water fresh from the coconut. Then we went to the local mall for gelato.

This morning we left bright and early for a tour around Santo Domingo. There was so much to see!

First, we drove through Little Haiti. The Haitians sell their goods on the streets here. We also drove through Chinatown.

Next, we went to Los Tres Ojos (the three eyes). It is a national park of caves with three lakes inside. It was absolutely beautiful.

Another view from inside the caves. So pretty!

We saw many other national monuments and sites. Here is the palace built by Diego Columbus. He was the son of Christopher Columbus. The inside is set up as a museum filled with furniture and art from the 1500s, though it is not original to the palace because of a fire.

One of our last stops was a cathedral. We made friends with this guard. It was quite a busy day, we saw and learned so much!

The rest of the day will be spent grocery shopping and preparing for our first day of school tomorrow!

Great Work from the World History Students!

A few weeks ago, during our religion unit, I assigned a project. Students had options of presenting their research in different ways such as through a PowerPoint, museum exhibit, comic strip, essays, etc. I was very impressed by the quality of work presented by some groups. Below are some examples of creative projects.

These are artifacts created by one group for a museum exhibit project. They researched Greek Mythology.

These two students made a whole museum dedicated to the gods and goddesses of Greek Mythology! The detail inside is most impressive!

Maybe I’m a little biased because of my museum studies background, but I loved these projects! I think I may have created some future museum curators. As my museum studies advisor from CMU always says: world domination!

A Look into my Classroom

Our typical class routine includes a warm up, a short class discussion of the warm up, lecture and note taking, and some kins of class activity. Here I am beginning a lecture. On this day we covered the Protestant reformation. I wear a microphone to help a student with a hearing impairment, but I find it helps all of the students to stay focused.

Homecoming Week!

Today kicked off Spirit Week for Millington’s Homecoming. We celebrated today with “Old Timers Day” where everyone dressed like a senior citizen. We had some really creative students! They brought canes and walkers, drew on wrinkles, sprayed their hair gray, and wore all sorts of crazy outfits. So much fun! I can’t wait to see what everyone wears for “Around the World Day” tomorrow!

The Schools of Thought in China

As we continue our religion unit in World History our most recent topic was the history of religion/thought in China. We discussed Confucianism, Legalism, Buddhism, and Daoism. The students thought they were pretty interesting ideas, and all so different. Daoism was of particular interest because the daoists belief in magic and ghosts led to the invention of fireworks! As an assignment students created advertisements to entice vacationers to visit an area based on the principles of a certain school of thought. Here are some great examples:

Their advertisements were so fun to read! This week we will learn about Islam and the Protestant Reformation. At the end of the week I will introduce the religion unit project.

1st Day = Success! Tomorrow: Mapping World Religions

Teaching about ancient religions today was a success! I think that the students enjoyed the lesson, they had some great questions. I can’t wait to see their drawings and read their papers about their Egyptian tombs. Check out yesterday’s blog to see the PowerPoint, warm up, and assignment that we did today.

Tomorrow we will continue the history of religions unit by mapping out different religions. We will use this interactive map: http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html to discuss where and how religions started and spread. Students will practice finding different locations using latitude and longitude as they plot important religious centers.

Monday in World History Classes…Ancient Religions

AncientReligion

Tomorrow is my first full day of teaching the World History classes. We will be learning about ancient religions including those of the Egyptians, Sumerians, and Persians. This will kick off our history of religion unit.

The lesson will include videos, lecture, and an art/writing project.

Visit the “Ancient Religion” link above to see the PowerPoint presentation including the videos and assignments. I welcome any feedback and suggestions!

The weekend went by too fast, but I’m excited to share this lesson with the students tomorrow. Wish me luck on my first day!

Our first week of school is almost over…

 

It has been a great week so far! I think it will be a good semester of working with some great teachers and students.

On Tuesday I introduced myself to the classes and handed out photo release forms for parents/guardians to sign. These signed forms will allow students to appear in photos that I may take in class for my educational portfolio or for this blog. The pictures will only be used for educational/professional purposes, and students will not be identified. Please sign the form and have your student return it if you have not yet.

We also did a fun activity so that I can start learning names and getting to know everyone. I asked a different random question of each of the 175 students. Some were funny (How would you spend a typical day if you were a T-Rex). Others were serious (What do you want to study in college). They then answered their question on a note card. Here are some interesting things I learned about the students:

• Several students want to pursue an education/career in medicine or architecture.
• Many students (especially in 1st hour) mentioned that they enjoy sleeping.
• One student is great at baking. (I wouldn’t mind being a judge of the baked goods!)
• Another would cure cancer if they were a scientist.
• One student loves Dr. Seuss books. (Me too!)
• I think we have some future authors in the class based on some very creative answers. I will keep an eye out for their books!
• One student wants to move to Alaska, another would like to live in Australia.

I’m so glad everyone shared little bits about themselves with me. I’m working hard to learn everyone’s names and get to know them before I start teaching the classes.

Thanks everyone for a fun first week of school! I hope everyone has a wonderful, relaxing weekend.

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting my blog about my student teaching experience. Here is a timeline of my semester so that you know what I will be covering in my blog posts.

• September 3rd – November 8th: Teaching U.S. and World History to 9th-11th graders in Millington, Michigan.
• November 9th – December 12th: Teaching in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
• December 14th: Graduation from Central Michigan University!