The School End- Week 5

The Fourth Grade Family in America
Week 5: 2/23/09- 3/1/09

This week was my last week under Brie’s command. The class photos came in this week, they are very cute. I am so glad they gave me my own copy.

Tuesday was Pancake Day, or what we refer to as Phat Tuesday at home. I had the privilege of working with a class mom to cook pancakes for forty kids. I finally perfected the art of pancake cooking. Tuesday afternoon we had a Unit meeting. Lately there have been so many meetings at school; sometimes the teachers don’t leave school until 5:30-6. The teachers’ work very hard at Bellaire, the expectations are high. The school has this reputation in the Geelong area.

This week I learned how to do Probe testing to help Abby and Brie. Probe testing helps determine the reading levels of the individual students. I have also given MIOOW word recognition tests. I really value this one on one assessment time with the students. I decided this week that I am a fan of the team teaching that takes place at Bellaire. It has so many benefits.

I sat in on Religious Ed this week at class. I found this half hour to be very interesting. RE happens once a week and its purpose is to children about Jesus. This really surprised me because this is something that you would never see in the public school system at home. I enjoyed getting to know the RE teachers. They were so intrigued when they found out that I am from Augusta, GA- home of the Masters. I wish I could give them something from the Masters, they consider it “golf heaven,” right up there with St. Andrews.

This week we wrote letters to America. We decided to write my mom’s Fourth grade class. I am not sure who was more excited, the Australian or American children. The letters were precious. I wish I could share them all. It is in activities like these that most adorable and hilarious sides of children shine through. Mom took a “family” photo of her class with the AFLAC ducks and the children loved this. Lily got to write Lily and Will got to write Will, it was a dream. I also did a lesson on the state of Georgia. A taste of home for sure.