Vaikka koulu loppuikin niin palataan viela kerran sinne. 19.6. vanhemmat oli kutsuttu luokkaan tutustumaan oppilaitten tekemaan Geocityyn ja vuoden aikana tehtyihin projekteihin. Pikkuneiti ja mina suuntasimmekin koululle viimeisena perjantaina.
Even though school is over I'm taking you back there once more. On June 19th parents had been invited to the class room to see Geocity and few other projects made by children during the year. Little Miss and I made our way to the school on the last Friday.
Saimme tutustua pariinkin kirjoitusprjektiin, joita oppilaat olivat tyostaneet. Yksi niista oli ns "all about" kirja eli he olivat saaneet valita jonkun aiheen ja etsivat sitten siita tietoa ja kuvia ja kirjoittivaat useamman version. Meidan neiti oli valinnut piirtamisen aiheekseen. Loysi pikkusiskon kanssa kivan nurkan jossa teosta tutkailivat yhdessa.
We got to see few different writing projects which the students had been working on. One of them was so called "all about" book which meant a book written by the student on a topic he/she had chosen. They research the subject for more information and pictures and written several drafts. Our girl had chosen drawing as her subject. They found a nice nook with her little sister to read the book and look at the pictures.
Amerikkalaiset luokat ovat kovin erinakoisia suomalaisista luokista. Ne on taynna tavaraa ja seinat on taynna kaiken maailman julisteita ja infoa jne jne jne. Itse opena minua vahan ahdistaa tama tyyli mutta kaipa minulla olisi samanlainen jos olisin kaynyt kouluni Amerikassa ja tekisin toita taalla. Jotenkin visuaalisia arsykkeita on hirveasti ja minua se ainakin hairitsee. Hyvin tuntuvat lapset kuitenkin toimivan tassa ymparistossa. Valitettavasti en saanut kunnon kuvaa luokan seinista.
American classes look very different from Finnish class rooms. They are full of stuff and walls are covered completely with all kinds of info posters etc. As a teacher myself this kind of over load of visual stimulants disturb. However, it seems to be the way to go here and if I had gone to school here as well as taught here my class room would probably look just like them. The children seem to manage well in this visually full environment. Unfortunately I didn't manage a good picture of the walls in the room.
Geocity oli kaupunki, jonka luokka yhdessa suunnitteli ja se rakennettiin kolmiulotteisena. Jokaisella oppilaalla oli tietty maara rahaa ja sita ei saanut rakentamisessa ylittaa. Rakentamisessa sai kayttaa vain geometrisia kuvioita. Hienoja kaupunginosia heilla oli ja ne oli sitten liitetty kaikki yhteen isoksi kokonaiseksi kapungiksi.
Geocity was a town the class had planned and built together. It was build three dimensional. Each student had a set amount of money for the planning and building and you couldn't go over it. You could only use geometric shapes. Each had planned his/her own bit and these were joined into a big city.
Opettajalle ja avustajalle annettiin tassa tilaisuudessa myos luokan yhteinen lahja, ja lapset lauloivat meille. Lapsillekin annettiin pieni lahja luokan vanhempien toimesta.
The teacher and assistant were given their presents from the whole class. The children sang to us and they also got a small gift from the parents.
Ison neidin todistus (saavat kolme vuodessa) oli hieno ja parannusta oli tapahtunut. Upeaa! Yksi asia minua ehka harmittaa taalla eniten on kirjojen puute. On hirvean vaikea tukea oppimista kotona kun ei tieda mita he tekevat koulussa eika ole materiaaleja. Taman asian olen tuonutkin esille useampaan otteeseen neidin koulu-ran aikana eri kouluissa ja eri opettajille mutta heista se ei ole tarpeellista. Koulu hoitaa. Minusta olisi tarpeellista. Meilla ainakin neidilla on osa-alueita, joita pitaisi tukea ja olenkin joutunut arvailemaan ja hankkimaan omaa materiaalia harjoitteluun ja toivomaan etta se auttaa. Kirjat olisi hyva tuki muistuttamaan asioista oppilaille mutta myos vanhemmille lasten tukemiseen. Liputankin niiden puolesta mutta eipa taalla niita ole. Vuoden lopussa koulusta tulee erinainen pino tehtava ja kirjoitusvihkoja, joihin on vuoden aikana asioita tehty. Tana vuonna tuo pino oli kovin laihanlainen eika sisaltokaan mitenkaan vakuuttanut. Matematiikasta ei tullut kotiin mitaan. Spelling eli oikeinkirjoituksen koevihkonen tuli seka pieni kirjoitusvihkonen, jossa oli noin viisi pienta juttua. Mielenkiinnolla jaan odottamaan ensi kouluvuotta ja uuden opettajan tyotapoja ja materiaaleja. Mutta nyt unohdetaan koulu ja nautitaan kesasta!!!
Big Miss got a a wonderful report card (they get three per year) and she had improved in few areas. So proud! One thing that really worries me and makes me a bit anxious is the lack of books. It's extremely hard to support your child's learning if you don't know what they are doing in the class room and they don't have other materials traveling between school and home. I've mentioned this same issue several times during Big Miss' school career and talked about it with many of her teachers but they don't think it's necessary. School takes care of it. I think it would be necessary. Our miss definitely have areas where she needs support and more practice and I've been guessing and bought myself materials to help her and hope it has been enough to help. Books would be great help for the students to remember important things and a big help for the parents in supporting their children in learning. So I'm an advocate for books but there won't be any next year either. At the end of the year the students get a pile of different work- and writing books to take home. These contain some of the work done during the year. This year the pile was very thin and the content was lacking as well. Nothing from maths. Spelling test booklet came back as well as a composition notebook which has about 5 small stories in it. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of methods and materials the new teacher next year will use. However now we forget school and enjoy summer!!!
