Megan and I had barely gotten a taste of adventuring our next trip began. The Thursday after our day in London, we flew from Bristol, UK to Edinburgh, Scotland. Megan and I caught a mid-afternoon flight before the others, since we were finished with class earlier in the day. Once we landed in Edinburgh, we hopped on a bus, which dropped us off around the corner from the hostel. We checked in and decided to walk around a bit to find dinner before the other girls arrived. We happened upon a small cafe down the block called Ryan's, where the food was excellent.
After dinner, we went back to the hostel to try and get some work done while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. They called just before 10 to let us know they had landed, at which point we relayed the directions to the hostel. Allison, Amanda, Hadley and Katie (who live in the flat below us) arrived half an hour later, and Cae (a friend of Amanda's) came in minutes after. We settled in for the night, happy that everyone had arrived safely.
Friday morning, we woke up bright and early to grab the continental breakfast at the hostel before we set out for the day. By 9 that morning, we were ready to start moving, and we set out for the Edinburgh castle, which was about a 25 minute walk from the hostel. We spent the morning touring the castle and its grounds. My personal favorite was getting to see the crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny. For those who don't know its dubious history, the Stone of Destiny sits under the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey, from where it was stolen. It now resides in Edinburgh after an agreement was reached with the royal family that it will be transported back to London for future coronations.
After a few hours at the castle, we were ready for lunch, so we walked partway down the Royal Mile and turned onto a side street to reach the famous Elephant House. Many authors have discovered the cafe over the years and sat in its back room to write. The most famous of these has been J K Rowling, who penned much of her first Harry Potter novel while sitting near a window overlooking the Edinburgh castle. Her view explains the striking physical similarities between the hill on which the castle sits and the similar position of Hogwarts. We reveled over the cafe's past while we munched on our lunches and took a break from all the walking we had been doing before we got back up on our feet.
Our afternoon started with a trek back up the Royal Mile (in the direction of the castle) to the small Writer's Museum. After we explored the museum, we decided to walk back down the full length of the Royal Mile to the Holyrood Palace, which sits at the other end across the street from the Scottish Parliament building. The Palace serves as home to the royal family if they visit Edinburgh. Having seen the palace, we started to walk back up the mile to take a short break at the hostel. Along the way, we stopped at the Mercat Cross to pick up tickets for our ghost tour that evening. To anyone wondering, the title of this post came was pulled from our discussion of the ghost tour as we walked back to the hostel.
Back at the hostel, half the group decided to shower and take a nap. The rest of us spent some time looking for a good pub or restaurant at which we could eat dinner. Our criteria were fairly specific - we wanted to eat Scottish food, but we also wanted to find somewhere between the hostel and the ghost tour, as well as stay in our budgets. We managed to find "Ghillie Dhu," the one pub that fit all of our criteria, so just before 5, we set off again. The food was delicious, but the service was a little slow for our deadline. We ended up having to sprint up to the Mercat Cross, which wouldn't have been too bad except that most of the journey took us up a huge hill. Even so, we managed to arrive minutes before the tour started at 7.
The ghost tour started with tales of gore from hundreds of years ago in Edinburgh, which slowly became stories of ghosts and hauntings. Although we spent the first 25 minutes above ground, we then moved into vaults hidden under the city's streets. There, our tour guides treated us to your typical ghost stories, successfully frightening all of us to some degree. We joined the tour guides for drinks afterwards, during which they continued the evening's storytelling. At one point, they discussed witch trials, at which point they called up Katie to stand trial! The rest of us pulled out our cameras instantly to catch a shot as Katie faced the "Inquisitor's" questions. At the end, they began to turn down the lights for the last story, which ended in complete darkness. Our whole group reached out for each other, officially terrified. We laughed when the lights came back up, but we had to admit that they had done what they had intended, and we stayed close as we walked back to the hostel for the night. We decided to turn in because we had to be up early for the next leg of our trip: Dublin!
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
St. Andrew's Visit 3: Classroom Management
You know those days
when you can't seem to focus on anything and you don't want to be doing
whatever it is you're supposed to? All of Year 4 had one of those days on my
most recent visit.
The students came in
groggily, slumping into their seats. Although they were given assignments to
start the day - either word problems or micro-writing - very few got started
right away. Mr. Barry spent more time instructing the students to start than actually
working with them at first. Once some of the students actually started, the
ones who still didn't want to work struck up conversations with their
neighbors, distracting them. Mr. Barry tried to reign in their attention
through call-and-response clapping patterns, which worked well aside from the
fact that it had to be repeated a few times over the course of the first 10
minutes of class. Eventually, Mr. Barry resorted to raising his voice, which
silenced the class.
We moved into guided
reading, during which my group remained distracted for the start. D refused to participate at all, but the others eventually settled down and
answered the questions I presented. We finished just in time for the next
lesson, which was a preparation for Thursday's assembly. In honor of Book Week,
the students prepared to present the story of Rapunzel to parents accompanied
by a series of gestures. A number of the boys were reluctant to participate at
first, so Mr. Barry moved them to the back of the room. They stood there while
the rest of the students sat together on the carpet. The moment any of them
began to participate, Mr. Barry quickly welcomed them back into the circle,
making it clear that (a) he expected their best and that (b) they could deliver
it.
After they took
their break, the students continued the Book Week theme by beginning to create
their own book covers. The project engaged them more than the work they had
done earlier in the day, and their work was focused until lunch as well as
immediately after, when they returned to the assignment.
As we reached the
middle of the afternoon, my first real challenge loomed. Mr. Barry and I had
previously discussed the possibility of me teaching a movement lesson based on
the Take One Picture, but he had wanted to wait and see in what direction the
students took the image. When they latched onto knights and swordplay, a
movement-based lesson seemed to fit perfectly, and I was asked that morning if
I could run a lesson that afternoon. During lunch, I sat in the quiet classroom
and pulled together a plan, grateful for the experiences and repertoire I had
gained from my class on the Art of Teaching Dance as I recalled a myriad of
activities I could include for the occasion.
When we first
entered the space in which we would dance, the students recognized its usual
purpose as their gymnasium and took a few minutes to settle down. Once I
regained their attention, I set a few ground rules (for safety purposes) and we
started with a warm-up to define their personal spaces. When three of the boys
still refused to participate, Mr. Barry removed them from the group. I later
learned that he had read them the riot act before instructing them to write
apology letters to me. Meanwhile, the other students explored first the poses
and then the movements of peasants, spies, kings/queens, and knights. After the
three boys finished their letters, they were allowed to rejoin the class, and
they ended up really enjoying the activities. Unfortunately, about halfway
through the lesson, we had to stop because the Year 5 students needed the space
to prepare for their assembly on space. Back in the classroom, they returned to
their book covers until the daily assembly began.
At the end of the
day, Mr. Barry and I talked about how my lesson had gone. We went over what I
might do differently next time (trying to establish the rules and initial
instructions before leaving the classroom while the students were still in
academic mode) and where it would have gone next (partner work on responding to
movement leading into fencing-type movement).
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
St. Andrew's Visit 2: A Pupil's Pursuit
Focus: A Student
Pursuit - "to focus on the range of learning experiences/activities which
the school provides for one particular student on one particular day"
Year 4 Schedule:
9:00 - Micro-writing
9:30 - Literacy
10:00 - Numeracy
10:45 - Break
11:00 - Take One
Picture
12:15 - Lunch
1:15 - Creative Time
For my main focus, I
chose to keep an eye on D as she traveled through her day. During my
visit, it was D's turn to have a "special day," which meant she
was basically Mr. Barry's helper throughout the day. Everyday, the special day
goes to the next student alphabetically, and that student lends a hand with
supplies, handing in the roll call for the day, and more. Aside from that, the
student participates in the day like normal.
D's day
started with micro-writing. She sat with her classmates as they talked through
a picture posted on the board and contributed to three sentences - one
description, one action, and one speech - about the scene depicted. They then
wrote their own sentences independently while Mr. Barry and I walked around,
providing support as students needed. I spent a few minutes writing for Arthur,
whose handwriting is so illegible that he has permission to use a computer or
to dictate his writing to someone else. He had to remember to tell me where
capital letters, full stops, and other punctuation marks needed to go.
Next, the class
separated into their level-based reading groups. I took D's group, which
was on the low end of the class, to the small school library across the hall,
where they read a short story and together and answered questions about it. It
was easy to see that even within this group, there was a difference in the
abilities of different students. While some students had caught on quickly to
the story, others needed to look back at the story and reread a few sentences
to answer the questions,
When we finished our
story, we rejoined the class for maths. Because they had had assessments during
my first week, this was the first time I got to see how the numeracy strategy
is implemented in England. The students sat back on the carpet to learn about
multiplication and relate it back to addition. They followed the same process
for division and subtraction. Mr. Barry presented an example and then assigned
4 numbers of increasing difficulty for the students to do in their workbooks.
D got a bit distracted during this and spent about as much time
socializing as doing her work, but she got back on track with a bit of guidance
and finished the second of the four numbers just in time for the break. While
the students went outside, Mr. Barry explained the marking system to me, and
together we marked their workbooks.
After the break, the
students worked in pairs with their neighbors. D and her partner had no
trouble finding the image for "Take One Picture," which they
discussed animatedly. She excitedly formed a trio with two friends for the
plays they began to create outside on the playground. I discovered as I
supervised that D and her friends are part of a large number of students
in the school for whom English is a Second Language. In their case, Polish was
the language of choice as they prepared their play until lunch time.
Lunch was followed
by creative time, which D's group used to create costumes for their play.
They remained inside for much of the afternoon, as did students creating
puppets of the characters in the painting, while I took other students outside
to practice their plays so they could present them to the class the next day.
For a bit, I had M, J, and V, who are three of the highest achieving
students in the class, working on their play outside. Other groups followed
their lead and came out as well, staking their claim to sections of the
blacktop to rehearse. However, it suddenly began hailing in the middle of the
afternoon, so we sprinted back inside to avoid getting drenched. The students succeeded in this endeavor - I, however, got fairly wet trying to make sure
that all of the students made it inside. Once it stopped, the sky cleared in
just a few minutes and I took RR and M outside.
A few minutes after
the girls had come out, R and his group joined us. They initially made a
beeline for the same basketball hoop the girls were using. I tried to intervene
and redirect the boys to a different area, which worked for R's partners,
but R would not be swayed. He latched onto the hoop and lashed out when
anyone tried to persuade him to release it, so another teacher came over to
lend a hand while I ushered the girls away. They became understandably upset,
having committed no offence. Unfortunately, even with the assistance of the
other teacher, we were unable to convince R to release the hoop until the
whole group went back into the classroom. While he returned, I stayed in the
hallway with the two girls for a few minutes, allowing them to express their
frustrations and explaining why I had made the choices I had. They took the
time to collect themselves and calm down a bit before we joined the rest of the
class for the end-of-the-day announcements.
After the day ended,
Mr. Barry and I reviewed the sequence of events from the playground. He
explained that R has autism, which was why he had struggled with not
getting what he had anticipated. I then asked whether R had a behavioral
plan (which a student like him would have in the US) or some kind of British
equivalent. Mr. Barry was very forthcoming in explaining the usual plan of
action with R, which focuses on social stories and emotion coaching. He
also described the evolution of the plan, which I thought was interesting.
Until recently, R's outbursts had been dismissed as poor behavior, for
which he was sent out of the class. Although this was an easier way to work
with him, it was also more frustrating, because his behavior never changed. The
new plan, requiring much more energy from the teachers, has shown noticeable
results. Outbursts such as the one I encountered have become less frequent,
which has allowed him to spend more time in the classroom.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
London
After we spent all of Friday out and about, my roommate and I decided to go to London for the day on Saturday and hit a few of the sites. We boarded the 8:45 train to maximize our time in London, reaching Paddington station at 10:15. From there, we walked to the British Museum, somehow managing to not get exceptionally lost along the way!
In the Museum, we explored the many incredible artifacts. We got to check out the Rosetta Stone, among others, which was especially cool because the people around us were speaking at least a half dozen different languages, reminding us of the powerful impact the Rosetta Stone had on the way we look at other cultures. We also picked up lunch while we were there, perfectly comfortable with the slightly higher prices since admission had been free. After lunch, we hit the African exhibit and the Clocks and Watches display before catching an afternoon tour of Ancient Rome.
We left the museum around 4 so that we could do a bit of site-seeing before it got dark. From the British Museum, we walked to the London Eye, and then continued down the block to Big Ben. We turned the corner towards Parliament, but we noticed the light had started to wane, so we changed course and headed to Waterloo station, where we grabbed dinner before we caught a train first to Salisbury and then to Bath. Another successful trip in my opinion :)
Cheers!
In the Museum, we explored the many incredible artifacts. We got to check out the Rosetta Stone, among others, which was especially cool because the people around us were speaking at least a half dozen different languages, reminding us of the powerful impact the Rosetta Stone had on the way we look at other cultures. We also picked up lunch while we were there, perfectly comfortable with the slightly higher prices since admission had been free. After lunch, we hit the African exhibit and the Clocks and Watches display before catching an afternoon tour of Ancient Rome.
We left the museum around 4 so that we could do a bit of site-seeing before it got dark. From the British Museum, we walked to the London Eye, and then continued down the block to Big Ben. We turned the corner towards Parliament, but we noticed the light had started to wane, so we changed course and headed to Waterloo station, where we grabbed dinner before we caught a train first to Salisbury and then to Bath. Another successful trip in my opinion :)
Cheers!
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
A Cotswold Tour
I'm a little behind on my blogging, but I definitely needed to put down my thoughts about life in Bath recently. My goal is to catch up before I go on a fresh set of adventures this weekend, and we'll see how that goes.
One of the great parts of the program I'm on is that they run some day trips and other socials for all of us to enjoy! For instance, as part of our orientation, we went to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Lacock. On February 21, we spent the day in the Cotswold, a famous, picturesque, historic region of the country. The bus pulled up at a quarter to nine, and we piled on, wearing our Wellies (short for Wellingtons, a famous brand of rain boots) and carrying extra shoes. As with our first day out, Andrew Butterworth narrated the start of our journey, explaining some of the landmarks we would be passing. He had a particular affinity for the names of the areas we passed, recounting the stories behind a few of his favorites.
Our first stop of the day was Broadway, a quaint little town famous for its Broadway Tower. Originally built by a local lord for when he wanted to invite friends over for tea, four different counties can be seen from the top. After we spent a few minutes checking out the view, we began to hike down the Cotswold way. Though the full path is about 110 miles long, we only took on a two-mile stretch of it, which crossed muddy fields and an enclosure filled with sheep. The last field led us to a little back street in the town, which we followed back to the bus. As we got ready to board, we lined up and slipped our feet halfway out of our boots so we could step right out when we reached the bus entrance. Our boots had been so covered in mud that we surely would have ended up tracking massive quantities of muck through the bus otherwise.
As we traded our Wellies for other shoes - in my case sneakers - the bus brought us to a nearby town for lunch. Amy, Chelsi, Madeline, Megan and I decided to grab sandwiches and walk around a bit. We ended up stumbling on a little tea room, where we drank hot chocolate with an abundance of marshmallows and whipped cream. We finished up just in time to meet the rest of the group back at the bus for our third and final stop of the day, Painswick.
In Painswick, we spent the rest of our afternoon walking through the Rococo gardens and admiring the snowdrops. We maneuvered through the 250th anniversary maze, which you could see in full from a hill overlooking it. From this vantage, we guided some of the other students through the same paths we had taken. We ended the afternoon with a cup of tea and a slice of cake (mine was lemon raspberry) before heading home on the bus. Overall, a very successful day :)
Cheers!
One of the great parts of the program I'm on is that they run some day trips and other socials for all of us to enjoy! For instance, as part of our orientation, we went to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Lacock. On February 21, we spent the day in the Cotswold, a famous, picturesque, historic region of the country. The bus pulled up at a quarter to nine, and we piled on, wearing our Wellies (short for Wellingtons, a famous brand of rain boots) and carrying extra shoes. As with our first day out, Andrew Butterworth narrated the start of our journey, explaining some of the landmarks we would be passing. He had a particular affinity for the names of the areas we passed, recounting the stories behind a few of his favorites.
Our first stop of the day was Broadway, a quaint little town famous for its Broadway Tower. Originally built by a local lord for when he wanted to invite friends over for tea, four different counties can be seen from the top. After we spent a few minutes checking out the view, we began to hike down the Cotswold way. Though the full path is about 110 miles long, we only took on a two-mile stretch of it, which crossed muddy fields and an enclosure filled with sheep. The last field led us to a little back street in the town, which we followed back to the bus. As we got ready to board, we lined up and slipped our feet halfway out of our boots so we could step right out when we reached the bus entrance. Our boots had been so covered in mud that we surely would have ended up tracking massive quantities of muck through the bus otherwise.
As we traded our Wellies for other shoes - in my case sneakers - the bus brought us to a nearby town for lunch. Amy, Chelsi, Madeline, Megan and I decided to grab sandwiches and walk around a bit. We ended up stumbling on a little tea room, where we drank hot chocolate with an abundance of marshmallows and whipped cream. We finished up just in time to meet the rest of the group back at the bus for our third and final stop of the day, Painswick.
In Painswick, we spent the rest of our afternoon walking through the Rococo gardens and admiring the snowdrops. We maneuvered through the 250th anniversary maze, which you could see in full from a hill overlooking it. From this vantage, we guided some of the other students through the same paths we had taken. We ended the afternoon with a cup of tea and a slice of cake (mine was lemon raspberry) before heading home on the bus. Overall, a very successful day :)
Cheers!
Sunday, February 23, 2014
A Temporary Home, Part II
In the first part of this post, I focused on the officially sanctioned activities I've been participating in while I'm in Bath. Of course, those don't make a home on their own. The most memorable moments of the places I've called home have been the interactions I've had with people. Friends, teachers/professors, neighbors, they all play a role in making a place feel like home.
I mentioned the knitting circle and choir I joined, which have both exposed me to new people, but "home" isn't a once-a-week activity. "Home" is stopping for coffee or grabbing a bite to eat. It's going on an adventure and knowing exactly where you're going back to when it's all said and done. Some of my favorite moments this semester have been creating a home within the program by getting out and hanging out with people. There have been a few stand-out moments, to which this post is dedicated.
1. Galentine's Day
To those of you unfamiliar with Galentine's Day, it happens on February 13, the day before Valentine's Day. While the 14th is about going out with your significant other, the day before is a chance to leave the boys behind and go out with all the girls. Because our program is almost all girls (we have 47 girls and only 6 boys) we decided that this would be a wonderful decision. However, we didn't realize it was Galentine's Day until midmorning! After our first tutorial session on Thursday morning, the ladies of the education programme (there are 7 of us total) went out for tea with Andrew Butterworth, which was when we made this important discovery. As we walked back to Nelson House, we quickly formed a plan to gather as many of the girls as possible for dinner that night. We spoke to our student helpers to find a restaurant that could hold as many of us as were interested in going, and Hadley called ahead to let them know we would be bringing a decent sized group. In the end, 16 ladies turned up for a wonderful night of girls-only bonding over dinner.
2. Sally Lunn's and Bath Abbey Tower Tour
You may have noticed that there was no post this week about my visit to St. Andrews. (If not, guess what? There was no post this week about my visit to St. Andrews!) That was because this week, the students were on holiday for half term, aka they got a week off. All of a sudden, we had a day to spend doing whatever it was that pleased us. Megan, Hadley and I decided to grab lunch at Sally Lunn's, a local favorite, and then take our obligatory tour of the Bath Abbey Tower. We all indulged in the famous Sally Lunn's Buns as part of our lunches, which were absolutely delicious. We just barely missed the noon tower tour (they leave once an hour), but we were able to get our tickets for the following tour without any trouble. At 1, we started to ascend the 212 steps winding up the tower, which I have to admit was a bit dizzying. We stopped in a few rooms along the way, including the ringing room and the bell chamber, before we reached the top of the tower. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of heights, I had to admit that the view was absolutely incredible. There was something really wonderful about being able to look out and see the city of Bath beneath us.
3. Sushi Night
This Thursday, a group of us piled into Yen Sushi to grab a bite to eat. This was particularly exciting for me, since I had never actually eaten sushi before. I sat near a few more experienced sushi-eaters, who advised me to start with something where I knew all the ingredients, so I stuck to salmon-based sushi for the evening, which I found that I enjoyed. This particular sushi bar was unique in that we were able to pick what we wanted from a conveyor belt instead of ordering, though we could also request specific items if we didn't see them. Different colored plates indicated the prices of the items, and at the end of the night, our bill was determined by the plates sitting before us.
4. Pudding Club
Last semester, Lucie (one of our wonderful student helpers) created a Pudding Club in which everyone could come, bring a dessert, and spend a little time eating and chatting before the week began. Because it was a smashing success, she decided to bring it back this semester, and we started with a theme of "chocolate". Our flat whipped up a pan of brownies and a batch of black bean-chocolate cupcakes, both of which were delicious. The brownies, in fact, were so delicious that we won the prize of "best dessert" for the week! By the end of tasting everything, however, we all went into a bit of a chocolate coma and waited to eat dinner until about 9 o'clock. 100% worth it.
Classes start up again tomorrow morning, so it's just about time for bed. Cheers!
I mentioned the knitting circle and choir I joined, which have both exposed me to new people, but "home" isn't a once-a-week activity. "Home" is stopping for coffee or grabbing a bite to eat. It's going on an adventure and knowing exactly where you're going back to when it's all said and done. Some of my favorite moments this semester have been creating a home within the program by getting out and hanging out with people. There have been a few stand-out moments, to which this post is dedicated.
1. Galentine's Day
To those of you unfamiliar with Galentine's Day, it happens on February 13, the day before Valentine's Day. While the 14th is about going out with your significant other, the day before is a chance to leave the boys behind and go out with all the girls. Because our program is almost all girls (we have 47 girls and only 6 boys) we decided that this would be a wonderful decision. However, we didn't realize it was Galentine's Day until midmorning! After our first tutorial session on Thursday morning, the ladies of the education programme (there are 7 of us total) went out for tea with Andrew Butterworth, which was when we made this important discovery. As we walked back to Nelson House, we quickly formed a plan to gather as many of the girls as possible for dinner that night. We spoke to our student helpers to find a restaurant that could hold as many of us as were interested in going, and Hadley called ahead to let them know we would be bringing a decent sized group. In the end, 16 ladies turned up for a wonderful night of girls-only bonding over dinner.
2. Sally Lunn's and Bath Abbey Tower Tour
You may have noticed that there was no post this week about my visit to St. Andrews. (If not, guess what? There was no post this week about my visit to St. Andrews!) That was because this week, the students were on holiday for half term, aka they got a week off. All of a sudden, we had a day to spend doing whatever it was that pleased us. Megan, Hadley and I decided to grab lunch at Sally Lunn's, a local favorite, and then take our obligatory tour of the Bath Abbey Tower. We all indulged in the famous Sally Lunn's Buns as part of our lunches, which were absolutely delicious. We just barely missed the noon tower tour (they leave once an hour), but we were able to get our tickets for the following tour without any trouble. At 1, we started to ascend the 212 steps winding up the tower, which I have to admit was a bit dizzying. We stopped in a few rooms along the way, including the ringing room and the bell chamber, before we reached the top of the tower. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of heights, I had to admit that the view was absolutely incredible. There was something really wonderful about being able to look out and see the city of Bath beneath us.
3. Sushi Night
This Thursday, a group of us piled into Yen Sushi to grab a bite to eat. This was particularly exciting for me, since I had never actually eaten sushi before. I sat near a few more experienced sushi-eaters, who advised me to start with something where I knew all the ingredients, so I stuck to salmon-based sushi for the evening, which I found that I enjoyed. This particular sushi bar was unique in that we were able to pick what we wanted from a conveyor belt instead of ordering, though we could also request specific items if we didn't see them. Different colored plates indicated the prices of the items, and at the end of the night, our bill was determined by the plates sitting before us.
4. Pudding Club
Last semester, Lucie (one of our wonderful student helpers) created a Pudding Club in which everyone could come, bring a dessert, and spend a little time eating and chatting before the week began. Because it was a smashing success, she decided to bring it back this semester, and we started with a theme of "chocolate". Our flat whipped up a pan of brownies and a batch of black bean-chocolate cupcakes, both of which were delicious. The brownies, in fact, were so delicious that we won the prize of "best dessert" for the week! By the end of tasting everything, however, we all went into a bit of a chocolate coma and waited to eat dinner until about 9 o'clock. 100% worth it.
Classes start up again tomorrow morning, so it's just about time for bed. Cheers!
Saturday, February 22, 2014
A Temporary Home
I realized that I haven't actually written about my day-to-day life in Bath since my classes started. Sure, adventuring is fun, but equally fun is hanging around at home.
That's right, home. I've actually taken to calling Bath "home" for the semester, the same word I used for Rochester for the last 2 and a half years, and the same word I used for Kibbutz Tzuba for a summer in my teens. I know that this is only temporary, but there's something very special about calling it "home." Even 3.5 years later, there is a part of me that feels like Kibbutz Tzuba is exactly where I should be, a part of me that knows I would still feel comfortable there. Even though I love being in Bath, I'm feeling a little homesick for Rochester.
"Home" has meant something different in each case. Some things, however have been constant. One of those has been my academics. Right now, I'm taking three courses. My Monday mornings start with "Education in England," which is definitely my favorite class I'm taking. We spend our time reading and talking about the various nuances of the English education system, which inevitably brings us back to the US education system. Our discussion this week centered on the National Curriculum and the new Core Curriculum. Because the National Curriculum was implemented 20 years ago, England has already been through many of the debates currently going on in the USA. Very interesting, at least to someone like me who's a big fan of policy talks.
After my education class, I go straight to "Mythologising Shakespeare," where my tutor has memorized most of Shakespeare's works. We know this because he will literally spout off quotes in the middle of class. My third and final academic class for the week is on Wednesdays around midday, when I have "Tudor and Stuart England." This tutor is also quite knowledgeable, but he doesn't intimidate us as much, which is a big plus. Tuesdays and Thursdays are dedicated to my education placement, since we go into our schools on Tuesdays and then we spend Thursday mornings in tutorials with the wonderful Andrew Butterworth discussing what happened that week and getting ready for what's to come.
If it wasn't already clear, we only meet with our classes once a week, which means that class is 2 hours and then it's time to hit the library! The library at Nelson house is small and cozy, which is perfect since any of the books that we didn't get personal copies of aren't allowed to leave the building. Generally, I've been spending 1-2 hours in the library on class days to get my reading done.
Classes, however, do not make a home, which is why I've been trying hard to explore the city while I'm here. I decided to join two groups within the community while I'm here. The first is called the GASP choir at Bath University. It's very relaxed, which makes it a lot of fun to be in. The name stands for the main genres of music they sing - Gospel, Acapella, Soul and Pop - but they certainly branch out beyond those. The members are all students, and everyone has been incredibly welcoming, so I'm looking forward to socializing with them in the coming weeks and months. The second activity I chose is the local knitting circle, affectionately known as "Stitch and Bitch," so definitely look for a few knitting-centered blog posts in the coming weeks as well.
It's getting late, so look out for part two of this post soon!
That's right, home. I've actually taken to calling Bath "home" for the semester, the same word I used for Rochester for the last 2 and a half years, and the same word I used for Kibbutz Tzuba for a summer in my teens. I know that this is only temporary, but there's something very special about calling it "home." Even 3.5 years later, there is a part of me that feels like Kibbutz Tzuba is exactly where I should be, a part of me that knows I would still feel comfortable there. Even though I love being in Bath, I'm feeling a little homesick for Rochester.
"Home" has meant something different in each case. Some things, however have been constant. One of those has been my academics. Right now, I'm taking three courses. My Monday mornings start with "Education in England," which is definitely my favorite class I'm taking. We spend our time reading and talking about the various nuances of the English education system, which inevitably brings us back to the US education system. Our discussion this week centered on the National Curriculum and the new Core Curriculum. Because the National Curriculum was implemented 20 years ago, England has already been through many of the debates currently going on in the USA. Very interesting, at least to someone like me who's a big fan of policy talks.
After my education class, I go straight to "Mythologising Shakespeare," where my tutor has memorized most of Shakespeare's works. We know this because he will literally spout off quotes in the middle of class. My third and final academic class for the week is on Wednesdays around midday, when I have "Tudor and Stuart England." This tutor is also quite knowledgeable, but he doesn't intimidate us as much, which is a big plus. Tuesdays and Thursdays are dedicated to my education placement, since we go into our schools on Tuesdays and then we spend Thursday mornings in tutorials with the wonderful Andrew Butterworth discussing what happened that week and getting ready for what's to come.
If it wasn't already clear, we only meet with our classes once a week, which means that class is 2 hours and then it's time to hit the library! The library at Nelson house is small and cozy, which is perfect since any of the books that we didn't get personal copies of aren't allowed to leave the building. Generally, I've been spending 1-2 hours in the library on class days to get my reading done.
Classes, however, do not make a home, which is why I've been trying hard to explore the city while I'm here. I decided to join two groups within the community while I'm here. The first is called the GASP choir at Bath University. It's very relaxed, which makes it a lot of fun to be in. The name stands for the main genres of music they sing - Gospel, Acapella, Soul and Pop - but they certainly branch out beyond those. The members are all students, and everyone has been incredibly welcoming, so I'm looking forward to socializing with them in the coming weeks and months. The second activity I chose is the local knitting circle, affectionately known as "Stitch and Bitch," so definitely look for a few knitting-centered blog posts in the coming weeks as well.
It's getting late, so look out for part two of this post soon!
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