Unterwegs...Wieder

Hello, everyone!

I'm going to England tomorrow!

...Providing that I don't miss my flight!

Actually, this last bit shouldn't be a problem.  The main source of anxiety lies in the fact that my flight leaves Hamburg at 10:20 in the morning (ideally; this is Easy Jet, people, and we all know the lack of punctuality that is invisibly stated in its terms and conditions).  This is actually quite a bit later than Monday's flight, which leaves around 7:00 in the morning.  Celle is one hour away from the Hamburg Hautpbahnhof by IC train, and I'll have to tack on about twenty-five more minutes to get to the airport by S-Bahn.  If I take the 7:15 train, then I should be fine.

But, though I gripe and whine about the flight times, it's completely worth it.  I get to see my relatives again.

Those of you who read my rather lengthy update about the last time I was in England know how much I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, one last time before I head back to the States at the end of June.  And I'm very glad that I am going to see my relatives twice, instead of a one-time gig, and this time will be special because I hope to see Marion perform in The Magic Flute.  To see her perform will certainly be a treat (and will be recorded faithfully on this blog sometime within the next month or three--see how on top of things I've become).

And now that I have their address, the nice, meek people at customs will not try to detain me for being a rather short terrorist.  Notice I typed "try."

Hmm.  You know, let's do a "normal" blog post.  Some little tidbits about my life...


I Wanna be a Real Substitute

A few weeks ago, my coworker Elisabeth told me that she would be a bit late to class the following day because of a doctor's appointment and asked me to head the class on my own for five to ten minutes.  I consented because 1. it's 2c, a good class and 2. I've begun the class without her several times before.  However, I had a nagging voice in my head; there is always potential for unplanned occurrences at my school, and I knew that I should come prepared for an entire lesson, if Elisabeth couldn't make it to the class at all.  Being the lazy, eh-I'll-improvise-the-whole-thing person that I am, I briefly calculated what I could do in such a circumstance and probably took a nap after work.  I'm a fascinating person, don't 'cha know.

Wednesday morning rolled around, and I made my way to 2c after the second bell had rung.  I started the class with the standard "hey-it's-really-early,-so-let's-sing-a-song" routine, singing "Spring is Coming," or something like that.  (Spring, by the way, has yet to come in Germany, so this is kind of an unintentionally cruel joke on everyone involved.)  I went over the different flowers that we had been learning, adding a bit of repetition with colors, etc.  Ten minutes rolled by, and, of course, there was no Elisabeth.

My intuition and foresight are awesome.  My ability to not take action completely is, too, surprisingly enough.

What I mean to say is that even though I only briefly considered a backup plan, what I did plan worked.  The couple of weeks before, when I was serving as the main substitute for Suzana's classes, I had used the story, We Are Going on a Bear Hunt, for the lessons in 4a, which had gone swimmingly.  In fact, as a surprise, I had assigned the kids parts and had them draw their scenarios--grass, river, mud, snowstorm, and cave--for when we recited the entire story from memory to Suzana upon her return.  But since I knew that this activity would be far too much for second grade English, I merely taught the kids in 2c the story, which goes like this:

We are going on a bear hunt.
We are not afraid!
We have got a gun
And a sharp knife, too.  Uhh!

Shh!  What's that?
Oh, grass...  Long, wavy grass...
We can't go over it;
We can't go under it.
We must go through it!

(Swishy, swashy...)

Same thing with river, etc., until we come across the bear in the cave, and then we go through the story backwards to get back to the house.

You can imagine how this would be a little difficult, yet fun.  In the second grade, I was the one to be doing the translating, so when I got to the sharp knife bit...

Sarah:  Oh, das ist gefaehrlich!  Ich hab' Angst. 

Oh, Kinder.

Anyway, the kids rather enjoyed the impromptu lesson, and we were able to go through the story twice, with stops every now and then to make sure that the kids understood what they were actually saying.  And kids always like it when they're included in a story, so breaking them up into groups during the second try was fun for them (and when I made Indro the bear).  So, all in all, it was a successful lesson on my part.  And one of the neatest aspects?  I did this all by myself, without another teacher in the room.  Technically, we're not allowed to do that, but I don't care.  The kids were well-behaved for me; my German instructions weren't perfect, but they were understood; and there was laughter.  That, my friends, makes for a decent lesson.


Schlechtes Wetter and the Lessons It Brings

Another teaching story occurred today, oddly enough.  I hadn't actually prepared a lesson in awhile (I think since The Mitten), and I had been feeling a little guilty because of it...and the fact that I was once again asking for a couple of days off in order to travel.  Honestly, I haven't asked for many days off outside of sick days, but it's still lame because I miss some of the classes and therefore don't participate as much.  So, I suggested to my boss that I do a lesson based on the very first bit of Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat, over the rainy weather.  She enthusiastically consented, and we set about, via email exchange, what activity we were to have the students in 2a do.  It ended up being a house whose doors would open up to the kids looking out the window, which the students were to paste inside.  The challenge, though, lay in the fact that the children also had to arrange the rhyme in the right order.


Okay, so it's not really a challenge.  But the kids liked it.  And considering the fact that it was a rainy, cold, and miserable day, it really was the perfect setting for such a lesson.

And I am really impressed with how rapidly Emily is picking up English.  She and Dylan are my little go-to people for translation.

It always makes me feel accomplished when I do command my own lesson, even when the teacher is in the classroom.  I'm actively contributing to the class, and I believe that it also lets my coworkers know that I'm not just filling up space in the room.  And though I did lose a connection with some classes when Karolin inherited them (I say "inherited" because she had to take over some classes for her Refendarin requirements, which is good), I maintain a very steady relationship with the students because I'm an active part of their English lessons.  And they really like it.  In retrospect, I probably could have done some things a little better, at least at the first of the school year.  However, it's all part of the learning process, and I'm quite impressed with myself that I didn't make any huge blunders all throughout.  In fact, I have done amazingly well.  Way to go, me.


So, I hope that will tide things over while I am in England.  Though I will have my computer with me throughout the trip, I'll be using it mainly for email and reading purposes.  Who knows when I'll update about this future trip, as I haven't even discussed Madrid, Barcelona, and Baden-Wurttemberg from Osterferien?  I, er, need to get on that, stat.  But, in the meantime, here; have a normal blog post.