I made it (so did my luggage)

For those of you wondering about my wanderings, I did arrive safely in Basel yesterday and was very happy to find that my luggage had arrived as well. After waiting for about 45 minutes I called the details coordinator to find out how I could be missing my ride. As it turns out, she had somehow missed my email about my flight details. I was really glad that my African cell phone liked working in Basel. It didn't particularly like Charles de Gaul in Paris. Eventually, I got a ride to Kandern and now I am drinking in all the green grass, green trees, green bushes, green plants...

Here, There & Everywhere

For those of you who have been curious about my summer schedule, here it is...

June 23-July 7
Germany

July7-23
Milford NJ, Philly PA, Lancaster PA, Dover NJ, Hatfield PA, Woodstock CT, New York NY
(not necessarily in that order)

July 23-29
Pasadena CA

July 30-31
Philly PA, Milford NJ

Aug 1-9
Greenville SC

Aug 10-13
Beverly Hills FL

Aug 14-16
Milford NJ

Aug 16
flight back to Africa

Can't wait to see you all! Email me if you're going to be in any of those areas so we can connect :)

C-A-T (in the Hat)

The Cat in the Hat

When I first read books to my classes by my favorite children's author - Dr. Seuss - I wondered if they would ever really be able to understand them. I read the two Cat in the Hat books when we studied the letter C in October. It took very creative reading/acting to get through such long books with these little English language learners. I decided it was better not to tackle Green Eggs and Ham just yet... I was excited to see them point out "Miss Rebecca, Cat in the Hat!!!" every time we read a Beginner Book (which has the Cat as the logo). In January we read them again when H was our letter of the week. This time the kids were excited to read them. I'm not sure if it was the familiarity or not, but it was cool to have them ask me to read it again after school while we were waiting for parents to come. Then in March Miss Mary from K3 brought us a special treat - a Cat in the Hat puppet she found in the resource room. The kids LOVED having the Cat read to them!

Green Eggs & Ham

In May our theme was TRANSPORTATION, so I borrowed Green Eggs & Ham from the library. The kids by this time were speaking enough English to understand the story and they LOVED it. A week later we watched the animated version that someone had given me on video. A few days after that my two giggling queens were riling up the class after school as we waited for moms and drivers. The kids have free play at this time which sometimes needs to be corraled into guided playtime :) I cornered the two rascals and asked them if they wanted me to read them a story. One of the girls asked me "Miss Rebecca, where is Green Eggs and Ham?" So I told her it was in the library. The library was still open, and these girls have moms that never come until they are in aftercare, so I decided my assistants would have a much quieter classroom if I whisked away the ringleaders of mischief. We went up to the library and found three copies of the book. So I gave each girl a copy and I had one myself. They learned how to follow along turning the pages appropriately and were so proud of themselves to be reading in the library like the big kids. They even helped me out with the words...

My Principal & My Mentor

I am so thankful for the great elementary principal that we have, as well as my mentor teacher. They have made this year more enjoyable and helped me keep my sanity at times.