Daily Updates :)

Day 1.

I was very nervous to go into my first day of interning at The Children's House, but that nervousness quickly faded once I stepped through the door. The atmosphere of the school is so welcoming and bright, I felt like I already belonged. Since today was the first day I didn't get the chance to do much, but I did get the chance to get the feel of everything and for the things that I will be helping with in the Future. The children who go to The Children's House are so sweet, and they were very welcoming to me. My mentor Jamie is a really caring teacher from what I can tell and I am very lucky to be working with her. Today I helped get project material ready for the students and I gave some ideas on some creative ways to teach the kids their new lesson. The letter for this week is.... "N", so the students will be working on how to pronounce this letter and what words  start with this letter. I had a great time today, and I am looking forward to tomorrow and the weeks to come :)



Day 2:

I never have really appreciated the things that kids do until today. The kids don't go to school to only have fun, but they go to school to learn new things and they are very excited to do so. The smiles on their faces just warms my heart when they first walk into the door. Today i got the chance to actually sit down with the kids and help them with their work. They are learning how to sound out words and how to spell words. I really enjoyed just being by their sides to help them if they had a question or to help them sound out certain words. The things that put the biggest smile on my face was when a student said that they were grateful to have me teaching there. Jamie (my mentor) also expressed her appreciation of having me around to help out with the kids, which made me feel really accomplished. I actually learned about sight words like " by, when, are, etc....). I never really knew that they were really important until today. I also get the chance to sit in at the end of a parent teacher conference when i started today which was really cool. The only thing that I have to work on is remembering all of the kids names. I have most of them down but a few still confuse me. :) Today was a very good day and i am looking forward to tomorrow.



Day 3:

Today was a very hectic day. Jamie my mentor had to go into some meetings and i was left alone with a teacher who didn't really know what to do with the class. Soooo.... I had full responsibility of the kids.. It was a very good experience for me to run the class for about 35 mins, but it was still kind of hard. I also got to teach a lesson today!! That was very fun! The lesson was about lakes and islands, and I taught them an activity that they could do during work time. I made a few mistakes and of course the kids pointed them out, but all in all it went okay. I also had a long talk with Jamie about how different kids learn and what I wanted to gain out of my internship opportunity. I felt a closer connection between Jamie and I after that. Jamie is helping me come up with ideas as to what I should do for my own lesson I am going to teach. She has given me materials that I can have for when I become a teacher, so I was very thankful for that. All in all i had a very good day yet again, and hope that I have more good days. :)

Day 4:

Today was an interesting day to say the least. I think that we were all a little out of it, because its supposed to snow tonight?? I helped a little boy read a a book and sound out the letter. He is very adorable. Everyone seemed to be getting hurt for some reason and I felt really bad for them. I tried my best to redirect the kids if they were doing something they weren't supposed to do, but they just didn't want to listen today. Rachael came and visited me today so that was very nice.. :) I got good feedback. I'm still unsure as to what to do for my Project but I'm working hard on it. Hopefully everything gets better tomorrow!! I'm looking forward to it!


Day 5:

Its raining! Which means indoor recess for all the kids. Which means everyone goes wild! Why the weather change does this to kids, I don't know, and may never know.  Today must have been a very cultural day because all the kids seem to be so interested in making flags from different countries, which makes me happy because we can connect on something! Ashley came and visited me today which was very nice! She stayed a while and played with one of the kids and I was happy to see that. Everyone suddenly became shy when she showed up and I thought that was pretty funny. I helped my mentor come up for more lessons to teach the kids which was fun, and I finally got a solid idea of what I want to do for my final project. Of course it may or may not be connected to South Korea, but as long as the kids think it is fun then that's what counts :) This week has helped me grow more confident in myself and in teaching and I think that I really do want to become a teacher when I get older :). I am really looking forward to next week!


Day 6:

Do you ever wonder what goes on in the minds of kids? What they think about when they do certain things? Well this last week has taught me to really look into the minds of the kids that I work with. I feel like the little kid in me has risen again, and I am not ashamed of that at all. Thinking like a child helps you to really connect more with the kids. Today I went in with a fresh mind and I feel like everyone is more comfortable with my being around and teaching the kids. I have finally came up with the final project that I am going to do and I am getting really excited for that. I hope the kids like learning about South Korea, since they are really interested in making flags from different countries. I love helping them make their flags even more! Today a little girl was trying to guess what country she was from and instead of picking America, she picked Lebanon. ( SOOOO CUTE!) htat was probably the highlight of my day. I have just learned how to love kids so much and I am so happy that I get the chance to tach them new things and bring out the child in me again!


Day 7:

Today was a tiring day, due to the fact that I felt under the weather, but seeing all  of the smiling faces of the kids made my day a lot brighter. A lot of them seem to be getting sick, but hopefully they aren't coming to school if they are very ill. Today we taught the kids about the different continents that we have in the world, and they seemed to be very interested in that. The kids are still into making flags and I am learning about what different countries flags look like, which is very cool! towards the end of the day the kids all seemed to be getting restless but they still managed to get things done :).  I made a new friend today!!! He insisted on sitting in my lap the entire length of recess, but he was so adorable that it was okay.  Anyway today was a good day, and tomorrow will be even better :)

Day 8:

Today was a very busy day.. All of the kids just seemed to not be able to sit in their seats!! I still didn't feel very good so it was kind of hard for me to really focus on the things that the kids were telling me, but I started to feel a little better later. I worked on puzzle maps of different continents with the kids today. The Africa map took about a half hour to finish but it was fun to play with the kids and help them understand about the different continents that are in our world. We had a picnic for lunch today which brang back alot of memories from the past.. It was very fun! Everyone seemed to be a bit emotional today as well, but you know how kids are, they work things out in about a few minutes :) All in all I had a good day and I am looking forward to tomorrow with a the little ones.


Day 9:

Today was a very fun day! The kids started off the day with a guest guitarist who played songs for them for about 20 mins. the requested some of my old favorites, and Christmas songs which was funny. Then they went into their classes,(they only had one morning class instead of two today). After that they went in for their spring sing practices which means more singing! They will be singing two of my favorite songs! For lunch we had spaghetti, which was very very yummy!!! Then they went to play outside in the very warm weather! They were all in really good moods which was very nice! I got to teach them a little about poems. We brainstormed what peace means with a thought web, and then they made their own poems about what peace is like using their ideas that they came up with. I help on little boy named koan write a good poem about his favorite animal with is an owl. The kids are very smart and today I was just extra proud of their hard work and good attitudes :)


Day 10:

I only have a week left :( :(  Just thinking about it makes me so sad! The kids are very cute, and since it is Friday they were all very excited for the weekend to come! I got to know some of the kids a little better then I have before, which was very nice. Not much happened today, but I did get to help out in the Spanish class which was very cool. I actually understood things and I got to speak a little with the kids in Spanish  Their Spanish is so cute and it kind of made my heart melt. Why can't I be in that easy of a Spanish class. Well that all for today!! Adios!

Day 11:

Its the last week :( I am doing my lesson that I came up with tomorrow and I am a little nervous for it! But I am hoping that it will all turn out okay. Today was a good day. I was glad to be back and hearing about the kids weekend was fun. Although I do have a cold today, The kids made me feel better. i really don't want to leave!! :( working with kids is so much better then being a student myself! Other then that nothing much happened today. more updates later! :)

Day 12:

My lesson went great! I was very worried that the kids wouldn't be interested in it, but they seemed to really like it! My lesson consisted of teaching the kids how to make the South Korean flag and I taught a little about where South Korea was located and some fun facts. I taught my lesson three times to different classes, but for the last class I taught them how to say hello, and how to introduce themselves in Korean. The kids got to take off their shoes, because in South Korea the students don't wear shoes in the school building, and I played Korean music in the back ground while they worked. I heard a little boy telling his mom how fun it was when he got picked up, which made me really happy and made me feel very accomplished. The whole school got to have a South Korean lunch of Sigumchi Namul, which is Korean spinach and they all ate their food! they said that they really liked it. so today was a good day. I even got to experience helping a sick child who was throwing up, which wasn't good for him, but in a way I felt glad that I could help him out. So today was a very good day. I wish i didn't have to leave them so soon, but i'm sure I will see them all again very very soon :)

Day 13:

Tomorrow is the last day :(.. Im going to miss all the kids so much! Today was a good day. I got to teach my lesson that I did yesterday two more times which was nice :) A lot of kids have been feeling sick, which makes me sad for them because their parents still make them go to school. I got to get off early today because my mentor had an appointment, which was also very nice :) Now all that is left to do is finish my slideshow so that I will have a good presentation to present at the Exhibition. Having this internship has really taught me how to teach kids in a loving way and how to tend to the needs that each individual kid has. I really do want to become a teacher now, and I plan on doing so now more then ever!