Day 28: Religion

Religion.
This is something that is labeled as "better safe than sorry." So most teachers just don't teach this. But here in Norway they do teach it. They have two hours of religion a week where they learn about different religions.
Today I got to teach about my religion. I got to tell the students all about what I believe, when I go to church, where I go to church and other things like this. I was not teaching them to convert them, but rather to inform them. The more students know the smarter they are. The more they understand the better they will be able to accept other people they meet who may have different views.
The study of religion is one thing I wish the United States would adopt. But I guess I will have to keep to the casual mention rather than an entire lesson.

For English today I did mad-libs with the students. It was how to talk like a pirate. This is the story we ended up with:
"Ye can always pretend to be a bloodthirsty DESK, threatening everyone by waving yer CRAZY sword in the air, but until ye learn to GO like a pirate, ye'll never e UNDER accepted as an authentic LADY. So here's what ye do: Cleverly work into yer daily conversations BLACK pirate phrases such as "Ahoy there, PIRATES," "Avast, ye GIRLS," and "Shiver me SANTAS." Remember to drop all yer gs when ye say such words as sailin', spittin', and fightin'. This will give ye an ARM start to being recognized as a swashbuckln' baby wipe. Once ye have the lingo down pat, it helps to wear a three-cornered MAN on yer head, stash a LIVER in yer pants, and keep a NOSE perched atop yer EAR. Aye, now ye be a real pirate."
One student asked me "What does swashbucklin' mean?" that was an interesting question to answer.

In the lunch room the sun was in my eyes. I said "Look! I can see the sun!"
One of the other teachers looked up suddenly and said "Something must be wrong."

Day 16: Cookies and Chatting

Yesterday my roommates made some cookies. Oatmeal chocolate chip. Delicious, however they were also different. The brown sugar that they bought was a little different, more grainy than the brown sugar in the States. Also, Norway does not believe in chocolate chips apparently and they had to purchase a chocolate bar and cut it up into chips. But even with these differences, the cookies hit the spot! Speaking of which, I think I will make stir-fry with rice tonight. That will be very good.

I think I got the hang of teaching English now. Last week I realized that I wasn't doing a very good job with teaching them English that they needed to know. So I changed how I did it today and I think it worked a lot better. I looked at their goals for next week and based my lesson off of that. We did some work in the book and practiced how to respond to the question "When is your birthday?" " My birthday is on (month) (date)" I think this will help them more than just writing.
Yes, I know writing helps a lot and they need it in their education. However, that is not all there is to English and I need to address all the sides of English, not just one. These English lessons I think would fall under the Utah Core English Language Proficiency standards, and not actually under Language arts. They are learning how to talk with people, at least they were in this lesson.

Day 7: Improvement Requires Reflection

Today I got to teach almost all day! I was very excited about it and nervous. I can teach all day, no problem... in English. But I was teaching 4th grade and they need a translator. So I didn't quite know how it was going to go.
Overall, I think it went well.
English was first. Last week when they had questions they would ask the teacher in Norwegian and she would translate for me and then I would answer. The kids got no experience talking in English. So this week I upped the stakes.
"If you ask Hilde for help and then ask me a question, I will give you a sticker." I promised the children as I showed them the awesome stickers I had brought.
"But, if you ask me without getting help I will give you a candy!" A chorus of amazement met this declaration.
Every single child got at least one candy today, most two or three. I think my plan worked out rather well. Since I don't want the kids to never ask questions I am going to switch it up next time. I will tell them that if they get help, or if they don't, either way they still get a prize. The requirement is asking me in English. This way each of the students will be able to get any help they need without fear of losing some reward.

Then the part of the day I was looking forward to the most. Arts and Crafts! I have always loved art time, and here they have designated two hours for art! It is like a dream come true! Last week we started working on our patterns and designs. This week we drew the head and started adding the designs to the paper. The kids were really engaged and I had to herd them out of the door for recess assuring them that they could keep working on it when they came back in.
As I taught this lesson I recognized some things I could do better. So I added them to my lesson plan and when I get to teach this same lesson to 5th grade tomorrow I get to try and make it better! The lesson directly relates to the Utah core standards, especially 4th grade standard 1 objective one.

There are three main things I learned that weren't directly tied to my lesson today.
1. When Hilde has students grade themselves she has three boxes they can check: I'm good at this, This is difficult, and I want to practice this more. I love the last one. It does not mean bad, it just means the student wants more practice!
2. I need a signal for when I am done with instruction so they children know when they can move. Today I used "let's go." as my signal but I thought maybe a specific clap would be better. And it would be more fun as well.
3. I need to be better at noticing students who haven't been commenting or who need a bit more attention. When I am teaching I get so involved in answering questions and teaching that I forget to look for understanding.