So today was the end of our first week in practicum, I was sad to leave the students, they were all so awesome! They were so good about participating in class and had a ton of fun with the games that we played! We even had a few of them who made pictures for us, they did these crazy drawings of our names, they are really artistic! At every break they would all be up at the blackboard drawing and writing out things, they were amazing! They also took a bunch of pictures with us today as well, I am glad that they liked us! I am nervous about next week though I will be teaching high school so it is going to be much different than middle school....oh well I am sure that it will go fine.
I am excited for tonight, I will be going out with a bunch of my collegues, we all like to hang out together on Friday nights it is a good end to the busy week. We all have fun and just chat, it is a good way to get to know one another, and just have fun!
This weekend I am planning on lesson planning and shopping. I will be going to Second Hand stores, which are like Goodwill or Savers in the states, so hopefully I can find something. There is a lot of them so I am sure I will be bound to find something. After shopping I will be going to lesson plan. I have the high school students next week so I think I am going to focus on Social and Cultural Issues for the week...as we all know I love to study people and hopefully they will be interested in learning about people as well!!
Well that is all for today...the weather is hot, but not unbearable. I hope you all are doing well, I miss and love you all bunches!!!!
Until later
~Sarah B.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Practium has begun!!!
So in my last post I was very nervous about starting to teach....that was just silly of me. It has been great so far, the kids are fantastic. I think that Carly (my partner) and I may have just gotten fortunate though, these kids are truly fantastic. They are all really good at participating and very interested in what we have to say, it has been so fun. We haven't done a lot on specific vocabulary, but we do a lot of conversation in English. They are very advanced in their English, especially since they are only in the 5th and 6th grade. I am a little nervous about how it will be once I get to my actual site, as there will be a greater diversity in the levels of the students, but I will accept that challenge once I get there.
Tomorrow I will be teaching again, as I will be until next week Friday, but it is only for 1-2 hours a day. On Monday we just had fun and played games to gauge the level of the students and get to know them so they were comfortable with us. That went over really well (it was all Carly's idea...she rocks) so then we were able to get to know the students and get to know there likes and dislikes. From there we based our lessons on what they like. We already knew that we were going to talk about the parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) but we changed our guides since then and based it on what they liked. So on Tuesday we talked about Magic and Fairy Tales...the kids loved it! It was so good to see them interacting and becoming creative! Then today we talked about adjectives and people and related them to popular people and describing them. They have such an extensive vocabulary that they became really creative! It was great! Tomorrow we will be talking about verbs and sports and maybe dancing and music...I hope that we have fun tomorrow as well and we will continue to review the parts of speech.
Finally on Friday we are going to talk about the US. The kids are really interested in what goes on in the US and I think they will be really interested in hearing about it. I think they know more about American pop culture than any of us know however, they knew so many people today, it was crazy!!
I am continuing to learn Romanian, it is a dificult language, but I am starting to be able to form sentences with my gazda. I can understand a lot more than I can speak which is pretty typical, but I am trying not to be afraid to speak, because I know that it is important in the learning process to make mistakes and just try.
I have been walking a lot as well, which is good, but I haven't been eating vegetables as much as I would like. They eat a lot of warm food here, but once I get to my own place I am sure that I will be able to eat more fresh foods and vegetables, but I think I may try to talk to my gazda about foods that we like and I will say that I like vegetables all types of vegetables maybe I will get more vegetables then!
Let's see I think that is all for today, I am going to go shopping this weekend for clothes so I will let you know how that experience goes. It should be interesting and I will be able to practice the vocab that we just learned! That is all for now, love and miss you all bunches!!!!!!
Until Later
~Sarah B.
Tomorrow I will be teaching again, as I will be until next week Friday, but it is only for 1-2 hours a day. On Monday we just had fun and played games to gauge the level of the students and get to know them so they were comfortable with us. That went over really well (it was all Carly's idea...she rocks) so then we were able to get to know the students and get to know there likes and dislikes. From there we based our lessons on what they like. We already knew that we were going to talk about the parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) but we changed our guides since then and based it on what they liked. So on Tuesday we talked about Magic and Fairy Tales...the kids loved it! It was so good to see them interacting and becoming creative! Then today we talked about adjectives and people and related them to popular people and describing them. They have such an extensive vocabulary that they became really creative! It was great! Tomorrow we will be talking about verbs and sports and maybe dancing and music...I hope that we have fun tomorrow as well and we will continue to review the parts of speech.
Finally on Friday we are going to talk about the US. The kids are really interested in what goes on in the US and I think they will be really interested in hearing about it. I think they know more about American pop culture than any of us know however, they knew so many people today, it was crazy!!
I am continuing to learn Romanian, it is a dificult language, but I am starting to be able to form sentences with my gazda. I can understand a lot more than I can speak which is pretty typical, but I am trying not to be afraid to speak, because I know that it is important in the learning process to make mistakes and just try.
I have been walking a lot as well, which is good, but I haven't been eating vegetables as much as I would like. They eat a lot of warm food here, but once I get to my own place I am sure that I will be able to eat more fresh foods and vegetables, but I think I may try to talk to my gazda about foods that we like and I will say that I like vegetables all types of vegetables maybe I will get more vegetables then!
Let's see I think that is all for today, I am going to go shopping this weekend for clothes so I will let you know how that experience goes. It should be interesting and I will be able to practice the vocab that we just learned! That is all for now, love and miss you all bunches!!!!!!
Until Later
~Sarah B.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Another Post!!! I am on a roll!
So not to much has changed since my last post, but I had some time so I thought I would take advantage of it.
Yesterday we had some practice with lesson planning. I was really nervous about it at first, but now I feel a lot better. I never thought I would be able to come up with ideas for lesson plans, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I am not sure how it will be once I am on my own, because I feel like I come up with a lot better ideas when I am able to bounce ideas off of people and build off of their ideas as well as my own. It is always nice to think outside the box!
So tonight I am getting together with some of my collegues for food, beer and lesson planning, hopefully we will come up with some good ideas and enjoy ones company in the process. Everyone here has a bunch of different ideas and personalities so we compliment each other well.
So on Monday I start teaching, we are teaching in pairs for three hours a day. I was lucky enough to be paired with my friend Carly (well we actually picked the pairs) so we are going to team teach on Monday and then on Tuesday we will start teaching individual lessons. There will be 3 hours a day and one day I will take 2 hours and Carly 1 and the other day it will be the opposite so that we each teach the same amount of time. I am a little nervous to get in front of a class of 30 students, but I think team teaching the first day will help break the ice and I just have to remember that I have a suffiecient knowledge of English and the kids are there to learn and not judge. I am sure that it will be fine, it is just a little nerve wracking.
I know I sound kind of rosie right now, but there are bad times as well. In the US however I encountered tough times as well, but we all push through it and concur the tough days as well. It is nice how I have only know my colegues for 3 weeks, but it feels like I have known them for years. I am glad that I have made friendships so quickly, because with such an intense experience you truly need those experiences.
I think that is all for now, everything is good and I continue to learn a great deal everyday. I miss and love you all and hope that everything is well. Oh and to all the father's out there, expecially my fantastic Dad - Happy Father's Day! Also to the Busse/Sebo clan I hope you have a great time camping this weekend, enjoy the company and be sure to relax as well. Have fun at the flea market and golfing as well!!! Love you all bunches!
Until Later
~Sarah
Yesterday we had some practice with lesson planning. I was really nervous about it at first, but now I feel a lot better. I never thought I would be able to come up with ideas for lesson plans, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I am not sure how it will be once I am on my own, because I feel like I come up with a lot better ideas when I am able to bounce ideas off of people and build off of their ideas as well as my own. It is always nice to think outside the box!
So tonight I am getting together with some of my collegues for food, beer and lesson planning, hopefully we will come up with some good ideas and enjoy ones company in the process. Everyone here has a bunch of different ideas and personalities so we compliment each other well.
So on Monday I start teaching, we are teaching in pairs for three hours a day. I was lucky enough to be paired with my friend Carly (well we actually picked the pairs) so we are going to team teach on Monday and then on Tuesday we will start teaching individual lessons. There will be 3 hours a day and one day I will take 2 hours and Carly 1 and the other day it will be the opposite so that we each teach the same amount of time. I am a little nervous to get in front of a class of 30 students, but I think team teaching the first day will help break the ice and I just have to remember that I have a suffiecient knowledge of English and the kids are there to learn and not judge. I am sure that it will be fine, it is just a little nerve wracking.
I know I sound kind of rosie right now, but there are bad times as well. In the US however I encountered tough times as well, but we all push through it and concur the tough days as well. It is nice how I have only know my colegues for 3 weeks, but it feels like I have known them for years. I am glad that I have made friendships so quickly, because with such an intense experience you truly need those experiences.
I think that is all for now, everything is good and I continue to learn a great deal everyday. I miss and love you all and hope that everything is well. Oh and to all the father's out there, expecially my fantastic Dad - Happy Father's Day! Also to the Busse/Sebo clan I hope you have a great time camping this weekend, enjoy the company and be sure to relax as well. Have fun at the flea market and golfing as well!!! Love you all bunches!
Until Later
~Sarah
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Finally a post-Sorry for the delay!
So things around here have been absolutely crazy, they keep us so busy here that I have very minimul time to get onto the computer and when I do I don't have a lot of time to post, but this morning (it is 8AM) here I am taking the time just for all of you!!
So school is going well, we learn a ton everyday, but the teachers are all really nice and they all want to help us a lot. All of our lessons are conducted in Romanian, which I thought would be difficult, but I am not often lost, which suprised me, but it was a pleasant suprise! I have to study a lot every night, but seeing as my gazda only speaks Romanian, there is a definante neccessity to learn Romanian quickly!
In addition to language lessons we also learn culture about Romanian. We had a diversity session last week which was very interesting just to learn about the different aspects of the others in the room, and see how diversity affects us everywhere. I feel that I have observed some diversity here in Romania, but I am looking forward to more first hand experiences, both positive and negative, because as we all know it is not always easy to learn, but worth it in the long run!
This weekend we all went on an Integrated Field Visit. We had 7 groups go to 7 locations and it was very interesting. We were able to see some schools and the different types of working environments that we will have. Most of the schools we have went to thus far have been very nice with computers and internet! I have to keep in mind that I won't necessarily have this luxuery, but that would be nice. The classrooms are a little different, as the seating is almost always based on tables, I have yet to see an individual desk, but it is an interesting environment.
It was also nice to see the volunteers in their site and to see how they have integrated theirselves into the community. Some related more to the students, others to the teachers and still others to the entire community. It was also interesting to see them interacting in Romanian, I did feel a lot better about the language. I know that it will be hard work, and I will have to continue to study hard, but I know that in time and through practice it will come.
A few things that I took away from this weekend were that this job will be very difficult, but in time and with perseverance I will make it through and it will be the best job that I will ever have. It was nice to see how adjusted the volunteers are but at the same time it would be interesting to see what the first couple of months were like, just to know what to expect at first. The end result is nice to see, but it would be nice to be able to see the process as well, just to be prepaired.
Let's see what else to say. Before I left we were informed about the dogs, in our training city there are dogs everywhere! They are big, small, black, white, skinny, fat, sleepy, they are just everywhere! So we of course thought this was normal, at our IFV site there were hardly any dogs. Apparently our training city has more dogs in it than most people have ever seen who visit the city. It is unreal! I have been lucky enough not to encounter any cruel dogs as of yet, but I am definitely keeping my guard up, I do not have any desire to be bitten by a dog!
Next week we will be starting our practicum! Yikes! This means that I will be in the school teaching!! We will at least be working in groups, which will be nice so we will not be completley alone. I am nervous about being in front of a group however, but I know that as long as I plan adequately and try to take more activities than necessary and put the neccessary work into it I know I will be fine!
Let's see I think that is all for now, but I will try to get a post up again soon. I miss and love you all and if you would like to call me that would be great, my parents have the number so shoot them an e-mail or give them a call.
Until later
~Sarah B.
So school is going well, we learn a ton everyday, but the teachers are all really nice and they all want to help us a lot. All of our lessons are conducted in Romanian, which I thought would be difficult, but I am not often lost, which suprised me, but it was a pleasant suprise! I have to study a lot every night, but seeing as my gazda only speaks Romanian, there is a definante neccessity to learn Romanian quickly!
In addition to language lessons we also learn culture about Romanian. We had a diversity session last week which was very interesting just to learn about the different aspects of the others in the room, and see how diversity affects us everywhere. I feel that I have observed some diversity here in Romania, but I am looking forward to more first hand experiences, both positive and negative, because as we all know it is not always easy to learn, but worth it in the long run!
This weekend we all went on an Integrated Field Visit. We had 7 groups go to 7 locations and it was very interesting. We were able to see some schools and the different types of working environments that we will have. Most of the schools we have went to thus far have been very nice with computers and internet! I have to keep in mind that I won't necessarily have this luxuery, but that would be nice. The classrooms are a little different, as the seating is almost always based on tables, I have yet to see an individual desk, but it is an interesting environment.
It was also nice to see the volunteers in their site and to see how they have integrated theirselves into the community. Some related more to the students, others to the teachers and still others to the entire community. It was also interesting to see them interacting in Romanian, I did feel a lot better about the language. I know that it will be hard work, and I will have to continue to study hard, but I know that in time and through practice it will come.
A few things that I took away from this weekend were that this job will be very difficult, but in time and with perseverance I will make it through and it will be the best job that I will ever have. It was nice to see how adjusted the volunteers are but at the same time it would be interesting to see what the first couple of months were like, just to know what to expect at first. The end result is nice to see, but it would be nice to be able to see the process as well, just to be prepaired.
Let's see what else to say. Before I left we were informed about the dogs, in our training city there are dogs everywhere! They are big, small, black, white, skinny, fat, sleepy, they are just everywhere! So we of course thought this was normal, at our IFV site there were hardly any dogs. Apparently our training city has more dogs in it than most people have ever seen who visit the city. It is unreal! I have been lucky enough not to encounter any cruel dogs as of yet, but I am definitely keeping my guard up, I do not have any desire to be bitten by a dog!
Next week we will be starting our practicum! Yikes! This means that I will be in the school teaching!! We will at least be working in groups, which will be nice so we will not be completley alone. I am nervous about being in front of a group however, but I know that as long as I plan adequately and try to take more activities than necessary and put the neccessary work into it I know I will be fine!
Let's see I think that is all for now, but I will try to get a post up again soon. I miss and love you all and if you would like to call me that would be great, my parents have the number so shoot them an e-mail or give them a call.
Until later
~Sarah B.
Monday, June 8, 2009
2 Posts in one day!!!
So I have some access to the Internet tonight, yay!!! My gazda (host) sister was nice enough to let me borrow her Internet, and since she is going to be gone, they will be borrowing my computer to talk while she is abroad visiting friends.
So things here have been going well, as you know from my previous post I had to move. There was nothing wrong with my original gazda, some unexpected things occured and there was no place for me to stay anymore...oh well things happen I guess. My new gazda is very kind and they have made me feel at home quickly. They do not speak much English, so communication is difficult but we work through it and in the end the point is made, so it is all good :)
Also the homestay coordinator was kind enough to tell them that I have recently lost a lot of weight and that I want to keep it off, so they have not been forcing me to eat. Apparently in Romania when you are hosting someone, they think that when you give your guests more food they will like you more. It is a cultural difference, but an interesting one at that, it justs shows how different the world is, but in the end we all just want to make our guests feel at home.
School is going well, we are learning a lot very quickly, but I think in the end it will be okay. The lessons are taught soley in Romanian so it can be difficult, but it is better that way. It is a blessing in disguise that I have moved since I am now forced to let go of my English so I think that I will learn Romanian a little faster now....or so I hope. We changed classes today as well, we went from a class size of around 10 to a class size of 4 and from 2 teachers to 1, so it is smaller class sizes with more 1 on 1 attention. I hope that I can keep up. The teachers are all really great, but it was a little difficult to adjust to a new teaching style. In a way I think that will be good though, it will make me more flexible as a teacher and as a student.
I am sure that some of my fellow volunteers are probably reading this and thinking it is a little rosy...oh well I find the good in everything! There is good in everything, even when there is peril, somewhere within the trouble is goodness.
Well I better get to studying some more, I miss you all a bunch and I send my love out. I hope this blog finds you well, I will try to post pictures soon, but we shall see. Hugs and Kisses!!
Until later
~Sarah B.
So things here have been going well, as you know from my previous post I had to move. There was nothing wrong with my original gazda, some unexpected things occured and there was no place for me to stay anymore...oh well things happen I guess. My new gazda is very kind and they have made me feel at home quickly. They do not speak much English, so communication is difficult but we work through it and in the end the point is made, so it is all good :)
Also the homestay coordinator was kind enough to tell them that I have recently lost a lot of weight and that I want to keep it off, so they have not been forcing me to eat. Apparently in Romania when you are hosting someone, they think that when you give your guests more food they will like you more. It is a cultural difference, but an interesting one at that, it justs shows how different the world is, but in the end we all just want to make our guests feel at home.
School is going well, we are learning a lot very quickly, but I think in the end it will be okay. The lessons are taught soley in Romanian so it can be difficult, but it is better that way. It is a blessing in disguise that I have moved since I am now forced to let go of my English so I think that I will learn Romanian a little faster now....or so I hope. We changed classes today as well, we went from a class size of around 10 to a class size of 4 and from 2 teachers to 1, so it is smaller class sizes with more 1 on 1 attention. I hope that I can keep up. The teachers are all really great, but it was a little difficult to adjust to a new teaching style. In a way I think that will be good though, it will make me more flexible as a teacher and as a student.
I am sure that some of my fellow volunteers are probably reading this and thinking it is a little rosy...oh well I find the good in everything! There is good in everything, even when there is peril, somewhere within the trouble is goodness.
Well I better get to studying some more, I miss you all a bunch and I send my love out. I hope this blog finds you well, I will try to post pictures soon, but we shall see. Hugs and Kisses!!
Until later
~Sarah B.
A quick post
Everything here is going well, I made it through my first week of training!!! Yay!! It has all been going well and I am enjoying myself. I have want to keep updated, but it is difficult as I do not have a lot of access to the Internet and since I just moved gazdas (hosts) I need to resituate myself with my surroundings. As we all know I am not to good with directions....I have not navigated alone yet so I have yet to get lost....let's hope that doesn't happen!!!
Language classes are going well, they are not to difficult, I just have to practice in order to retain the information, I think in time and with practice I will be fine.
Well that is all for today, I don't want to tie up the computer for everybody else, as there are only 2 computers here for 37 volunteers.
I hope all is well, miss and love you all!!!
Until later
~Sarah B.
Language classes are going well, they are not to difficult, I just have to practice in order to retain the information, I think in time and with practice I will be fine.
Well that is all for today, I don't want to tie up the computer for everybody else, as there are only 2 computers here for 37 volunteers.
I hope all is well, miss and love you all!!!
Until later
~Sarah B.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Finally a Post!
Hello all, sorry about the delay in posting, but I was finally able to get an internet connection as my gazda was kind enough to borrow it from her brother so here I am!
The trip stated out very intersting, before we even got onto the bus there was a delay...the bus broke down and they had to send for a new one! Good thing they planned on leaving for the airport 6 hours early!!!
I arrived safely in Bucharest very late at night....10 hours later than expected! Our flight was delayed by 2 hours consequently causing us to miss our flight to Bucharest from Amsterdam. The airlines and the PC were great with getting us onto another flight, they had everything organized by the time that we arrived at the airport, but we still had 10 hours to spare.
So I was lucky enough to be able to explore Amsterdam with my many new friends. We took our first ride on a European train....and got slightly lost. We got on the wrong train and headed into the country side rather than the city...oops! Luckily some of the people we were with were good at reading a map so they got us headed in the right direction as well as a very kind lady on the train.
Amsterdam was beautiful...we did however stay away from the Red Light District, but we did get to see Anne Frank's house, beautiful churches, and amazing architecture, the train station was even gorgeous!!! Another thing I have never seen so many bikes in my life, they were everywhere! People ride them everywhere, they lock them up everywhere, it was amazing!
Well eventuall that adventure had to come to an end so we went back to the airport to relax for a few hours, I got maybe 45 minutes of sleep while there and then we went on our second flight. Everything with this went as planned and we arrived safely in Romania. We arrived at our hotel at approximately 2:30 in the morning and I finally fell asleep at around 4:30 in the morning. The day then began again at 11 so that was my longest night of sleep thus far. Stoging in the hotel wen great we got to meet all of our teachers who are fabulous and the volunteers who have extended their service to help train us as well. Everyone is great and friendly thus far.
Then we got to meet our gazda family. I was so nervous, but it turned out to be great. I live with a single lady, who speaks fluent English as well as several other languages fluently! She is extremely intelligent and kind and we have a lot of fun joking around together! I am greatly looking forward to my stay with her.
Well I must go to dinner, I love and miss you all and hope to post soon!!!!!
The trip stated out very intersting, before we even got onto the bus there was a delay...the bus broke down and they had to send for a new one! Good thing they planned on leaving for the airport 6 hours early!!!
I arrived safely in Bucharest very late at night....10 hours later than expected! Our flight was delayed by 2 hours consequently causing us to miss our flight to Bucharest from Amsterdam. The airlines and the PC were great with getting us onto another flight, they had everything organized by the time that we arrived at the airport, but we still had 10 hours to spare.
So I was lucky enough to be able to explore Amsterdam with my many new friends. We took our first ride on a European train....and got slightly lost. We got on the wrong train and headed into the country side rather than the city...oops! Luckily some of the people we were with were good at reading a map so they got us headed in the right direction as well as a very kind lady on the train.
Amsterdam was beautiful...we did however stay away from the Red Light District, but we did get to see Anne Frank's house, beautiful churches, and amazing architecture, the train station was even gorgeous!!! Another thing I have never seen so many bikes in my life, they were everywhere! People ride them everywhere, they lock them up everywhere, it was amazing!
Well eventuall that adventure had to come to an end so we went back to the airport to relax for a few hours, I got maybe 45 minutes of sleep while there and then we went on our second flight. Everything with this went as planned and we arrived safely in Romania. We arrived at our hotel at approximately 2:30 in the morning and I finally fell asleep at around 4:30 in the morning. The day then began again at 11 so that was my longest night of sleep thus far. Stoging in the hotel wen great we got to meet all of our teachers who are fabulous and the volunteers who have extended their service to help train us as well. Everyone is great and friendly thus far.
Then we got to meet our gazda family. I was so nervous, but it turned out to be great. I live with a single lady, who speaks fluent English as well as several other languages fluently! She is extremely intelligent and kind and we have a lot of fun joking around together! I am greatly looking forward to my stay with her.
Well I must go to dinner, I love and miss you all and hope to post soon!!!!!
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