Hey there,
So Scotland was hit by some heavy snow on Monday, which was the beginning of a very long day. Once again, school was closed early, but this time all public transit (trains and buses) was suspended. I was on placement about a half hour drive from Glasgow and started to get worried. Even in the unlikely case of someone picking me up, the roads were terrible and gridlocked. I didn't know how to walk home, and didn't actually want to, as that would be quite the trek. My principal teacher (head of science) told me he'd drive me to a nearby town and hopefully the trains would be running from there. However, he couldn't get his car out of the parking lot. People here need to get snow shovels!
Regardless, he made a new plan. We would walk to his house and his wife would drive me to Glasgow (she has a car with 4-wheel drive). Little did I know how long this walk would be. Also, this would be a great time to mention that my wellies (rain boots) have gaping holes in them because they are crap! I've been waiting until my holidays to get my snow boots from my parents. However, I live to regret that decision. Haha don't be cheap people! Anyways, due to the gaping holes in my wellies, my feet were surrounded by an icy pool of water (melted snow) for the entire duration of my walk. We walked with another teacher along the roads of Hamilton (literally on the roads). Traffic was at a standstill, and many cars were stuck in the snow. A few school girls learned a lesson of how to dress in the winter, as they were wearing their skirts with bare legs. We walked for about an hour in heavy snowfall, until stopping for a rest in an Asda. Then we continued our journey, and I was shocked to hear it was going to be at least another 2 hours. That's not really something that motivates you haha. My toes were freezing and hurting a lot. However, if two middle-aged men could walk the same distance without complaining, so could I!
A little over 2 hours later, we ended up at my PT's house. His wife fussed over me as soon as I came in and made us some tea! It was lovely, even got my socks and wellies all dried up. I ended up staying for dinner, while we watched the news on BBC. The weather had affected the whole country, and many were stranded in their cars for the whole day. In the end, lots of people were stuck on the major highways and had to sleep there overnight. The country was actually torn apart by the snow. Mass panic brought people in droves to the grocery stores to stock up food, and they were left virtually empty for a few days. Luckily, the roads in Glasgow were reported to be clear, and they drove me home around 8:30pm.
My school was closed for 3 days due to the adverse weather conditions, and I stayed snug as a bug in my bed. :)
My last day at placement was Friday, and I'm definitely going to miss that school! I had a wonderful time, it was a great learning experience and I had such great support from all of the teachers there.
Update: The snow has melted away and the temperatures are above 6 degrees C.
-Anusha
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
***Let It Snow***
Hello my lovely blog followers,
Glasgow, actually the whole of Scotland has been riddled with that lovely substance we call snow. It is hilarious how they deal with it. It will just lightly snow and the talk turns to doom and gloom. Any type of continuous snow fall is labeled as a blizzard. Trains, planes and automobiles are delayed, etc.
It all began on Friday night...we went out dancing and after emerging in the wee hours of the night, we discovered the newly fallen snow! Then we got pelted by snowballs from some lovely lads who had nothing better to do with their lives. The rest of the weekend was great, still snowed on and off, and reminded me of home.
Monday arrived, and though I hoped for a snow day at placement, I was disappointed. A normal day at work, it snowed a bit. However, yesterday was another story. The weather seemed the same to me, and I had no problem getting a train to work (one line was cancelled). When I arrived at the school, the floor I am normally situated on was deserted. Usually the rest of the teachers are all there about half an hour early. 5 minutes to 9am and I was getting worried. Luckily another teacher turned up, but most were delayed due to bad road conditions and traffic. Then I had a lovely class of 4 pupils. So first period, we watched the latest X Factor performances from the weekend. 2nd period we played Biology related Hangman. 3rd period my teacher told me to go away and colour or something.... So I went to sit in the staff base and do some lesson plans. The phone rings and I am instructed to tell all science teachers and their classes to assemble downstairs in "the street" for an impromptu assembly. "The street" is simply the main entrance, with very high ceilings and is where the pupils eat lunch or watch performances or assemblies, etc. That's right, Scotland does not use PA systems in their schools. Anyways, blah blah blah the school is being closed after lunchtime due to the adverse weather conditions (light snow). I wasn't going to complain about getting home earlier!
And today, the same sort of deal, except my trains weren't stopping anywhere near my stop. Therefore, snow day for me! They have already declared schools to be closed tomorrow as well, and I am going to enjoy sleeping in!
Keep snowy Glasgow,
Anusha
Glasgow, actually the whole of Scotland has been riddled with that lovely substance we call snow. It is hilarious how they deal with it. It will just lightly snow and the talk turns to doom and gloom. Any type of continuous snow fall is labeled as a blizzard. Trains, planes and automobiles are delayed, etc.
It all began on Friday night...we went out dancing and after emerging in the wee hours of the night, we discovered the newly fallen snow! Then we got pelted by snowballs from some lovely lads who had nothing better to do with their lives. The rest of the weekend was great, still snowed on and off, and reminded me of home.
Monday arrived, and though I hoped for a snow day at placement, I was disappointed. A normal day at work, it snowed a bit. However, yesterday was another story. The weather seemed the same to me, and I had no problem getting a train to work (one line was cancelled). When I arrived at the school, the floor I am normally situated on was deserted. Usually the rest of the teachers are all there about half an hour early. 5 minutes to 9am and I was getting worried. Luckily another teacher turned up, but most were delayed due to bad road conditions and traffic. Then I had a lovely class of 4 pupils. So first period, we watched the latest X Factor performances from the weekend. 2nd period we played Biology related Hangman. 3rd period my teacher told me to go away and colour or something.... So I went to sit in the staff base and do some lesson plans. The phone rings and I am instructed to tell all science teachers and their classes to assemble downstairs in "the street" for an impromptu assembly. "The street" is simply the main entrance, with very high ceilings and is where the pupils eat lunch or watch performances or assemblies, etc. That's right, Scotland does not use PA systems in their schools. Anyways, blah blah blah the school is being closed after lunchtime due to the adverse weather conditions (light snow). I wasn't going to complain about getting home earlier!
And today, the same sort of deal, except my trains weren't stopping anywhere near my stop. Therefore, snow day for me! They have already declared schools to be closed tomorrow as well, and I am going to enjoy sleeping in!
Keep snowy Glasgow,
Anusha
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Lesson Planning Never Ends...
Hey all,
So I have now nearly come to the halfway point of my first placement. I've been teaching the past two weeks! I have one S1 class (gr. 7), two S2 classes (gr. 8), and two S3 class (gr. 9). I am observing an S4 (gr. 10) class, however, not able to teach it as they are preparing for preliminary exams and the teacher is already behind schedule.
Regardless, my plate is pretty full with the 5 classes. I'd have to say that the S3 classes are my favourite, they are for the most part well behaved, but also quite funny. I started Diffusion with them, and have worked my way to Osmosis, and soon will be starting Enzymes. My tutor from university will be coming to one of these classes next Friday to evaluate my teaching...I am definitely nervous! However, I lucked out that my crit is with an S3 class. They are all nice kids, and I know most of their names! They (for the most part) actually listen to me when I tell them to quiet down...haha this doesn't really work well with the S2 class. One thing I have noticed about these kids is that they don't really want to know what they're learning until they are going to be tested. Not really a surprise, but it still shocked me to see that they had copied out a diagram and written notes on it, and didn't know what they were writing. I don't even know how many times I have said the sentence "moving from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration." They can repeat it and fill in the blanks for me, but when applying that knowledge to actual living cells, they are dumbfounded. Regardless, I spent some time today going over diagrams on osmosis in plant cells and red blood cells, and I think more of them understand now.
As for the S2's....they really seem to have a bad attitude problem. Lots of poor ability kids, as well as most of them not wanting to be there or do anything at all. It saddens me to see a lot of young girls in full makeup, checking their faces every 5 minutes, and refusing to participate in class. I'm working on being more strict with them, as they pretty much do as they wish and don't listen. I'm going to try to make their lessons more hands on and relate it to things they like. We're doing a lesson on mixing coloured lights, and seeing what resulting colour is created. My idea is to relate it to X Factor (UK version of American/Canadian Idol). I'm going to say that a producer from X Factor is looking to hire someone to do the lights at the next show. They only have red, green and blue filters for their lights, but they need a series of other colours to be created for each performer. The children will figure out which combinations of red/blue/green filters create these colours. In the end, the children who get the correct results will be "hired."
While this may not be insanely exciting, hopefully it will pique a little more interest than usual. I'll let you know how that lesson goes!
My S1 class is really nice. There are some great kids, but I think i'm more suited to teaching the older kids. I am finding it really hard to give directions for every little thing, because in my mind I think that they can handle it. The teachers at the school are really helping me, and giving me feedback everyday. I'm working on my questioning techniques, to try to lead them on the right path instead of using open questions. Open questions seem to be leading way off topic. But they are really keen, and most of them are actively participating in class. There is one kid in the class who is extremely inquisitive. He asks about 30 questions per lesson, all slightly related to the topic, but not relevant. I don't know most of the answers, and am starting to think he finds me stupid. However, the other teachers have all said that he does that to everyone and seems to be trying to trip them up. I'm going to relax a bit, and let him know when it isn't relevant to the topic at hand, and if he is interested to look it up and let us know.
Anyways, I think that should bring you up to speed on my placement so far!
Catch you on the flip side,
Anusha
So I have now nearly come to the halfway point of my first placement. I've been teaching the past two weeks! I have one S1 class (gr. 7), two S2 classes (gr. 8), and two S3 class (gr. 9). I am observing an S4 (gr. 10) class, however, not able to teach it as they are preparing for preliminary exams and the teacher is already behind schedule.
Regardless, my plate is pretty full with the 5 classes. I'd have to say that the S3 classes are my favourite, they are for the most part well behaved, but also quite funny. I started Diffusion with them, and have worked my way to Osmosis, and soon will be starting Enzymes. My tutor from university will be coming to one of these classes next Friday to evaluate my teaching...I am definitely nervous! However, I lucked out that my crit is with an S3 class. They are all nice kids, and I know most of their names! They (for the most part) actually listen to me when I tell them to quiet down...haha this doesn't really work well with the S2 class. One thing I have noticed about these kids is that they don't really want to know what they're learning until they are going to be tested. Not really a surprise, but it still shocked me to see that they had copied out a diagram and written notes on it, and didn't know what they were writing. I don't even know how many times I have said the sentence "moving from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration." They can repeat it and fill in the blanks for me, but when applying that knowledge to actual living cells, they are dumbfounded. Regardless, I spent some time today going over diagrams on osmosis in plant cells and red blood cells, and I think more of them understand now.
As for the S2's....they really seem to have a bad attitude problem. Lots of poor ability kids, as well as most of them not wanting to be there or do anything at all. It saddens me to see a lot of young girls in full makeup, checking their faces every 5 minutes, and refusing to participate in class. I'm working on being more strict with them, as they pretty much do as they wish and don't listen. I'm going to try to make their lessons more hands on and relate it to things they like. We're doing a lesson on mixing coloured lights, and seeing what resulting colour is created. My idea is to relate it to X Factor (UK version of American/Canadian Idol). I'm going to say that a producer from X Factor is looking to hire someone to do the lights at the next show. They only have red, green and blue filters for their lights, but they need a series of other colours to be created for each performer. The children will figure out which combinations of red/blue/green filters create these colours. In the end, the children who get the correct results will be "hired."
While this may not be insanely exciting, hopefully it will pique a little more interest than usual. I'll let you know how that lesson goes!
My S1 class is really nice. There are some great kids, but I think i'm more suited to teaching the older kids. I am finding it really hard to give directions for every little thing, because in my mind I think that they can handle it. The teachers at the school are really helping me, and giving me feedback everyday. I'm working on my questioning techniques, to try to lead them on the right path instead of using open questions. Open questions seem to be leading way off topic. But they are really keen, and most of them are actively participating in class. There is one kid in the class who is extremely inquisitive. He asks about 30 questions per lesson, all slightly related to the topic, but not relevant. I don't know most of the answers, and am starting to think he finds me stupid. However, the other teachers have all said that he does that to everyone and seems to be trying to trip them up. I'm going to relax a bit, and let him know when it isn't relevant to the topic at hand, and if he is interested to look it up and let us know.
Anyways, I think that should bring you up to speed on my placement so far!
Catch you on the flip side,
Anusha
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Back to the Grind
My sincere apologies to all 2 of you that follow my blog!
I am clearly not very good with keeping up with it, but if you have me on facebook, you can see all of my photos which I believe is a very detailed account of my adventures thus far. :)
In other news, I am back to my placement at a high school in Hamilton. My first week is now over, and I have been observing and getting settled. On Monday, I will be teaching my first lessons! I'm starting a Heat unit with some S1's (Gr. 7s), and teaching Diffusion to an S3 class (Gr. 9). I am definitely nervous, but I've had a week to get used to the classes, and there are some good kids. I should be fine once I get into the swing of things! I have 5 more weeks at placement, so that equals 5 weeks of madness.
The teachers at this school have been amazing. I am extremely lucky as they have been offering help and guidance and are genuinely interested in helping me.
I'll update you on how the teaching goes!
-Anusha
I am clearly not very good with keeping up with it, but if you have me on facebook, you can see all of my photos which I believe is a very detailed account of my adventures thus far. :)
In other news, I am back to my placement at a high school in Hamilton. My first week is now over, and I have been observing and getting settled. On Monday, I will be teaching my first lessons! I'm starting a Heat unit with some S1's (Gr. 7s), and teaching Diffusion to an S3 class (Gr. 9). I am definitely nervous, but I've had a week to get used to the classes, and there are some good kids. I should be fine once I get into the swing of things! I have 5 more weeks at placement, so that equals 5 weeks of madness.
The teachers at this school have been amazing. I am extremely lucky as they have been offering help and guidance and are genuinely interested in helping me.
I'll update you on how the teaching goes!
-Anusha
Monday, 20 September 2010
First Day of Placement
Hey everyone,
I had my first day of placement today at a high school in Hamilton. After searching online for the travel times, I deemed it to take me an hour to get there. My residence, also thought it would be a great idea to stage a fire drill sometime between 6-8am this morning! After much complaining from the PGDE students about disrupting our time to get ready for placement, it was narrowed down to sometime between 6:30-7:30am. I got ready early and managed to be nearly ready by the time it went off! Anyways, I survived the drill and skipped off on my way to the train station. Boy, do I wish I had worn different shoes today!
I made it to the high school without incident, only to find that I hadn't needed to come in until later on in the day! I actually didn't mind being there the whole day though, as I had more time to get to know the science department teachers and sit in on a few classes. To my great relief, I was able to understand the students for the most part. Most were interested in me (the new person at the back of the class), and kept stealing glances. I was mostly in general science classes all day, and walked around helping students with assignments and tasks. I was asked if I was from America, a lot!
In short, I had a great first day! The teachers were amazing and so helpful and friendly to me. They really made me feel welcome, and all of them offered help if I ever needed it. The students were for the most part, similar to Canadian students! Some were lazy and disinterested, while others actively participated in class. I picked up a few tips on classroom management. I'm feeling pretty good about the next two weeks, and I even get a 4 day weekend! That definitely is going to help me get through these 6am wakeups!
Anyways, I miss Canada a bit, and definitely my family, friends and Western! I keep getting updates and events on fb sent to me about Western, and it makes me a little sad that I'm missing out. But, i'm having an amazing time here in Scotland and am pumped for when I actually get to teach!
Peace out,
Nush
I had my first day of placement today at a high school in Hamilton. After searching online for the travel times, I deemed it to take me an hour to get there. My residence, also thought it would be a great idea to stage a fire drill sometime between 6-8am this morning! After much complaining from the PGDE students about disrupting our time to get ready for placement, it was narrowed down to sometime between 6:30-7:30am. I got ready early and managed to be nearly ready by the time it went off! Anyways, I survived the drill and skipped off on my way to the train station. Boy, do I wish I had worn different shoes today!
I made it to the high school without incident, only to find that I hadn't needed to come in until later on in the day! I actually didn't mind being there the whole day though, as I had more time to get to know the science department teachers and sit in on a few classes. To my great relief, I was able to understand the students for the most part. Most were interested in me (the new person at the back of the class), and kept stealing glances. I was mostly in general science classes all day, and walked around helping students with assignments and tasks. I was asked if I was from America, a lot!
In short, I had a great first day! The teachers were amazing and so helpful and friendly to me. They really made me feel welcome, and all of them offered help if I ever needed it. The students were for the most part, similar to Canadian students! Some were lazy and disinterested, while others actively participated in class. I picked up a few tips on classroom management. I'm feeling pretty good about the next two weeks, and I even get a 4 day weekend! That definitely is going to help me get through these 6am wakeups!
Anyways, I miss Canada a bit, and definitely my family, friends and Western! I keep getting updates and events on fb sent to me about Western, and it makes me a little sad that I'm missing out. But, i'm having an amazing time here in Scotland and am pumped for when I actually get to teach!
Peace out,
Nush
Birthday Shenanigans
Hey everyone,
I apologize for the lack of updates recently! School is going well, same old... same old! I just want to marvel about how I have met such nice friends here! My birthday was last Friday, but on Thursday I went out to a comedy club with a bunch of my fellow science teachers. A few who were unable to celebrate with me on Friday, baked me a wonderfully delicious chocolate cake, decorated with icing and smarties! Mmmmm!!! It was amazing, and such a surprise! I can't thank them enough for making me feel so special! Afterwards, we hit up the comedy club for a night of hilarity. The headliner turned out to be a Canadian from Nova Scotia, and brought down the house :)
The next day, after class, I headed straight to the pub across the street for some Banoffee pie. For those who are unaware, it is made up of toffee and banana and is heavenly! Of course my friends didn't let me pay for anything on my bday and spoiled me rotten! In the evening, we went out for Thai for dinner, and then a bunch of lovely people came by my place for a predrink and then out for some dancing!
I'd love to shout out to the lovely people who sent me cards and presents :) It was a great birthday abroad!
-Nush
I apologize for the lack of updates recently! School is going well, same old... same old! I just want to marvel about how I have met such nice friends here! My birthday was last Friday, but on Thursday I went out to a comedy club with a bunch of my fellow science teachers. A few who were unable to celebrate with me on Friday, baked me a wonderfully delicious chocolate cake, decorated with icing and smarties! Mmmmm!!! It was amazing, and such a surprise! I can't thank them enough for making me feel so special! Afterwards, we hit up the comedy club for a night of hilarity. The headliner turned out to be a Canadian from Nova Scotia, and brought down the house :)
The next day, after class, I headed straight to the pub across the street for some Banoffee pie. For those who are unaware, it is made up of toffee and banana and is heavenly! Of course my friends didn't let me pay for anything on my bday and spoiled me rotten! In the evening, we went out for Thai for dinner, and then a bunch of lovely people came by my place for a predrink and then out for some dancing!
I'd love to shout out to the lovely people who sent me cards and presents :) It was a great birthday abroad!
-Nush
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Heading South
Hey everyone,
Last weekend I headed to London, England for a weekend with my extended family! Thanks to my cousin Ganesh booking my flight early morning, I had to arrive at the airport at about 5am... :S Other than my early start to the weekend, I was promptly spoiled and doted upon all weekend long! I'm not sure i've ever eaten as much food in my life as I was encouraged to take second servings for all 3 meals...
I had a great time seeing my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins from both sides of my family. For those who I missed, i'll be sure to see you next time! I even got to meet my cousin's 1 month old baby, who is such a cute boy and definitely more spoiled than me haha.
Besides eating, I went to a wedding in Milton Keynes, went shopping and to the movies with my guy cousins (watched The Expendables - possibly the most heads blown up EVER in a movie), celebrated my cousin Charmine's birthday, and attended a boat party. Needless to say, I was kept busy!
Thanks again to everyone who took care of me!
Can't wait to visit again,
Anusha
Last weekend I headed to London, England for a weekend with my extended family! Thanks to my cousin Ganesh booking my flight early morning, I had to arrive at the airport at about 5am... :S Other than my early start to the weekend, I was promptly spoiled and doted upon all weekend long! I'm not sure i've ever eaten as much food in my life as I was encouraged to take second servings for all 3 meals...
I had a great time seeing my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins from both sides of my family. For those who I missed, i'll be sure to see you next time! I even got to meet my cousin's 1 month old baby, who is such a cute boy and definitely more spoiled than me haha.
Besides eating, I went to a wedding in Milton Keynes, went shopping and to the movies with my guy cousins (watched The Expendables - possibly the most heads blown up EVER in a movie), celebrated my cousin Charmine's birthday, and attended a boat party. Needless to say, I was kept busy!
Thanks again to everyone who took care of me!
Can't wait to visit again,
Anusha
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