READY--SET--PLAY
The first two days of the week, we were asked to fill in for the different teachers throughout the day. It was explained to us that each teacher had a one hour meeting and would need someone to work with their class during that time. Mackenzie and I prepared a Kahoot! With English and Dutch word comparisons for the students since English is one of the subjects they study. Getting to work with the students without the teacher present was a little strange at first, especially because even in Texas our cooperating teacher is in the room. There was a little bit of a language barrier depending on the grade level, but as promised by the school director, there was at least one student who was fluent in English in each grade level. These students went above and beyond and helped us give directions to the rest of the class; I really don’t know how smoothly everything would have gone without them.
Tuesday looked very similar to Monday with visiting the different classrooms and filling in as needed. We had more openings in our “substitute” schedule, so we spent a lot of time with Groep 2, our previously assigned class for the day. These students are 5 and 6 and surprisingly a lot of them were very good at English. I can’t imagine being that fluent in another language at such a young age; I always wonder how parents teach their kids--what’s the best way to teach a toddler a new language? The teacher for Groep 2 was very nice and told us a little bit more about the school and about the Hague. Even though we had stayed there for such a long time, we were constantly finding new things we didn’t know. One thing I really loved about Groep 2 was how important play was and how present it was in the classroom. The children were able to pick an activity out of different planned options and placed their name under the activity on the daily board. The children did this effortlessly and without complaint, even if the activity they wanted was full. The only hint of disappointment or frustration I saw was when a little boy saw an activity was full and in a huff, turned another student’s name card upside down.He didn’t try and move it somewhere else so he could be at the activity--just turned it upside down. To me, it showed that the procedures for picking activities really had been instilled in the children.
I am a person who loves themes. If there is an opportunity to make something themed, I’m the first one to jump on board. Back in my classroom in Texas, we do things like “arctic week” where everything is about polar bears and the arctic. Theming is a fun way (I think) to give students more exposure to a topic across content areas. The themes can even be extended in play by the resources and materials provided. I saw this in Groep 2 when the teacher provided medical props for the students because they were learning about health and hospitals. I definitely enjoyed my time with Groep 2 and saw the biggest parallel to the class I work with back home.
On Tuesday I had another home cooked meal, and an amazing one at that. I can honestly say that when you're travelling often and trying to stay on a tight budget, fruits and vegetables fall off your radar completely. I am thankful for my new friend Casper's mom and her incredible cooking. One thing I really will miss is the enthusiastic dinner conversation that Dutch families seem to have--I'll also miss the seasoned potato wedges with mayo and fresh veggies. I'll tell you, i feel so spoiled when I'm not trying to cook food that cost less than a Euro.
