Miss Pobletic.

In hand: vanilla Americano.  It's a perfect gloomy day drink right now.  You know how they say that it rains a lot in England?  Well, it's not just a saying; I can tell you firsthand that it's all truth.  I have seen loads of rain since I have been here, and today is no exception.




So when I found out that I would be completing my student teaching abroad placement in a classroom with 4- and 5-year olds, the first thing that came to my happy mind was this:

I was very excited to see how different the school system and the age group would be (in Pennsylvania, I was placed in a 6th grade classroom), but most of all, I was excited to hear the little ones with their accents!


Since I live in Newbury and Francis Baily Primary School is located in the next town over, Thatcham, I had to figure out the best way to get to and from school.  And you know how I am with transportation- I learn best from experience...
On Monday, my host mom drove me to school and saw me off, which was cute.  **On a side note, gas (or "petrol") is extremely expensive here so everyone has small cars and tries not to drive as much as possible!  Anyways, I then took the bus home- there's a bus stop right outside of the school and it goes to the Newbury bus station in town.  However, instead of getting off at the bus station, I got off earlier so I could get Starbucks.  It seemed like a good choice at the time (and delicious), but the next morning I decided to take the bus to school and set off early to go to the bus station.  Since I didn't actually get off there the day before, I had no idea where it was.  I walked around the whole town centre and completely missed it!  So by the time I found it, I had missed the bus and had to wait for the later one.  This bus came even later than late and then took forever to get to school because of traffic and all the stops, so I was really late to school.  Some of the staff suggested that I take the train to school since it's more reliable and only has one stop, so it only takes 5 minutes.  The only problem is that the Thatcham station is a 15 minute walk from school.  On Wednesday, I caught the train and used maps that Fiona printed out for me to find my way to school, which is actually quite a nice walk (when there isn't pouring rain and blustering wind).  However, after school, I got lost trying to find my way back to the train station and my mentor teacher found me walking aimlessly on the side of the road and offered to take me to the station.  Phew.  On Thursday, I went to the train station and bought my round-trip ticket, happy with my new system and, after studying the maps, confident about my walk to and from the station in Thatcham.  But much to my dismay, my train was cancelled!  I walked to the bus station to try and catch the bus there, but it was really late, so I ended up going back to the train station and taking the later train to school.  Finally, on Friday, everything went very smoothly.  So after a week of "figuring it out," I will be a pro with a month pass for the train!  It all works out in the end.


The Foundation (also called Reception) classrooms are kind of like our kindergarten.  This is when kids officially start school for a full day and start learning phonics, reading, writing, counting, and other math and problem solving concepts.  However, they are also learning so much more.  All the small skills that we take for granted now were learned at some point.  It's been so fun observing these children learn the basic social, physical, and mental skills.  Throughout the inside and outside of our personal little building, there are different centers set up for the students to explore for an hour and a half twice a day.  They call this "independent learning," and while the students are choosing their own activities and exploring, the teachers are observing and having little chats with them.  Some examples of the areas are: a building area with different types of materials, a music area with instruments, an obstacle course area, a writing area, and a counting and categorizing area.  The children play by themselves, but mostly with others.  The other parts of the day are for calendar, phonics, and other lessons revolving around the theme of the term.  Right now the theme is "growing" so we're studying seeds and plants, tadpoles and frogs, and caterpillars and butterflies (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, anyone?).  Last week was all about Jack and the Beanstalk, which was fun.  The students contributed pictures and writing to make a class book, created their own beanstalks and ordered beanstalks according to height, and even practiced growing into a beanstalk during PE.  I loved having little chats with the students while they played and seeing all the crazy and interesting things they came up with.  I especially loved seeing them interact with one another- taking turns, helping each other, inviting others to play, apologizing, explaining problems and ideas, and making things up.  So cute.  


So far, I really love this placement.  Here are the main reasons why:
1.  The staff are all so nice and welcoming!  Each classroom has a teacher and a certified TA, as well as other part-time aids, so there have been a lot of people to meet!  They, along with the headteacher of the department, have all made me feel comfortable and welcomed into the group.  During the first independent learning time, one of the TAs volunteers to make tea and coffee for everyone and they all already know my drink preferences so I get a warm, caffeinated beverage each morning without even asking!  Perfection.
2.  It's a very laid back environment.  Right now, it's all about the experience that the kids are gaining to help them learn and become more independent.  I'm looking forward to providing opportunities for them to do that and to observe them all as the grow and develop!
3.  No one knows my last name!  It's so funny.  The staff all call me Erika, and the kids have no idea how to pronounce my last name.  One little boy is convinced that he has my name down and calls me "Miss Pobletic."  I don't have the heart to tell him he's a little off..
4.  THESE KIDS.
Let me tell you about some of them..
-  I have one little "know-it-all."  He's the one who knows my name.. sort of.  He talks to you as though he's already old and mature.  Every sentence starts with, "Do you know.."  
For example, 
"Miss Pobletic, do you know that I have the programme of Mary Poppins at home?"  
"No, I didn't know that!" 
"I know, I just told you."  
Oh boy.  He comes up with the most creative and detailed concepts.  In PE, they were pretending to start as a seed and then grow into some kind of plant.  I watched this boy slowly grow into a cucumber plant, then proceed to "pick" the cucumber, then he became the cucumber, then he "cut" himself into slices, and then became a circular cucumber slice.  It was great.
-  I have the token "quiet ones" that I am partial to just because I know that they want a little recognition but are too shy to speak out.  I spend a lot of time with these ones asking them questions and getting them to talk to me about the things they are doing.  They are so sweet.
-  There is one little boy who is diagnosed with Autism, and he is very functional and bright.  He always has a big smile on his face and absolutely loves the music area.  One day, he picked out a headband and gave it to another little girl.  She put it on and he exclaimed, "You look beautiful!" in his squeaky little accent.  And then they walked off together hand-in-hand.  I just about died right there.
-  There is one little girl and one little boy who can't help but be excited ALL THE TIME.  She loves to play with everyone and gets really into what she's doing, especially when she's dancing.  He loves to move around from activity to activity and can't stop shouting out in class.  Though when he speaks out, it's always something really funny or encouraging, so it's difficult to fault him for it.  The best example of these two is when we were doing "Show and Tell" one day.  At the end of the day, the students can show the class something they made that day or could tell the class about it.  The girl wanted to show everyone her dance moves that she had practiced that day.  She proceeded to spin and hop around, and you could tell she was proud of each move she showed us.  With each move she showed, the little boy would exclaim, "Wow!" "That's amazing!" "How lovely!"  It was the best thing ever.


As you can see, I've fallen in love with these kids already.  I just think it's so awesome how unique and beautiful they all are.  They all seem to love school and learning, and I just want to be another person who can continue to foster that for them.


And if you were wondering what they thought of my accent...

"Excuse me, why are you speaking Spanish?"

"I'm not; I'm speaking English, like you!"

"Well you don't sound like me."

"Truly wonderful the mind of a child is."  - Yoda