Inset Day #2

I've figured out who the governors are (sort of).  Essentially, they are similar to a school board.  They're made up of parent governors, church governors, a chairman of the governors, and then just regular governors (I think?).  Anyway, 5 or 6 of them came in today for a meeting about the school improvement plan.  We did a lot of group discussions about the direction the school was heading, who should be involved in decision-making, and things like that.  I, obviously, didn't have much to contribute because I've only been there for 2 days, but it was really interesting to hear their ideas!

During one of our morning tea breaks (we had 2 during this 3 hour meeting), one of the TA's was asking me about America and said "Do you guys really go to school on those big yellow buses?"  It's so funny the  things they notice about America.  They don't have any public transportation for their schools.  They said that in some places, they have things called carriages that the children can ride to school in.  I think those must be similar to just a car pool, because they aren't actual carriages or buses.

After the morning meetings, we had the afternoon to plan and organize the classroom.  There was a lot of copying, cutting, and laminating.  We also spent a lot of time figuring out the daily schedule (or timetable, as they call it).  It takes a lot of time to figure out who's doing what when you have a job share like they have in this school.  The Year R class is the only class that has only 1 full-time teacher.

The children come back tomorrow and I absolutely can't wait!  I also get to teach my first lesson on Friday.  I'm going to teach them about myself and about America, so it should be pretty easy to write (and teach)!  I'm a little nervous about the handwriting aspect of teaching.  They teach them cursive right away in England, so they start learning cursive in Year R.  Also, their cursive is different from the cursive we learn in America.  Some of the letters are formed differently, so I'll have to to practice!

Interesting fact about people in England:  When telling time, they never say "10:05".. it's always "5 past 10".  Or 5:45 would be "quarter to 6".  I'm sure I'll be doing that by the time I get back to the States!

I'm sure I have more things to write about but my brain is just too exhausted to type anymore..