The first two weeks of school have come and gone here in Minnesota. There have been four of us starting and we each have our own stories to tell, and actually Søren does too!
We will go by age....for the kids at least! ;-)
Liam, age 8, 3rd grade - Ms. Quills class.
Liam has really enjoyed starting school. His teacher is really kind and was great at helping him find other kids to play on the playground with the first days, etc. In third grade you have the same teacher all day, for all subjects, so Liam is able to stay in the same classroom all day with the same students and teacher. Once a day he goes to a "special". The specials are Music, PE (idræt), Art and Spanish. The first month he has Music as his special. One of the first days his Music teacher gave him a "Shout Out" - which means they did something extra special - and I guess it was for volunterring to read a beat outloud for the class and he did really well. Liam is at the Intermediate School and the day starts at 9:10 and is done at 3:40 Liam is enjoying getting hot lunch everyday and some favorites have been chicken nuggets and fried chicken legs. By the second week Liam wanted to start taking the bus, and has taken it all week by himself! He is happy after school and his teacher has told me that he is doing really well, raising his hand etc, and that he is "starting to come out of his shell." This week he has memorized a poem, and it sounds so cute when he recites it!
Benjamin, age 11, 5th grade - Ms. Buchner and Mr. Senske
Benjamin has thought it was a bit difficult to start school in the USA. There are a lot of new things - hot lunch, lockers, busses, larger class sizes, new teachers and kids, everything is in English, etc. Because of this he has needed a little extra guidance and support. Luckily the very first day of school, I was able to meet him at the drop off. (Søren drove Liam and Benjamin to school). He was very determined that he was not going to go to school, but slowly we got him to his locker, where he then froze. I didn't know what to do, but a staff member came by and said - "Can I help?" - I thought it was worth a try, and she was a God send. Literally, we felt so much that God sent her to help just when we needed it most. She was able to get Benjamin to calm down and even get him to go with her and leave me. She played a board game with him in her office and soon he was ready to join his class. I promised to check in on him at lunch time and helped him find his food, put in his lunch code etc. The first few days looked like this, with me checking in especialle during lunch, and then this second week he has been completely independent coming in from the car by himself and getting to class, doing lunch and recess, etc. It has been amazing to see his development and watch him feel more and more comfortable. He loves playing soccer at recess, and is doing really well with all the English, and homework. The daily schedule in 5th grade here at Orono is that they have a morning teacher for English & Social Studies and then a different teacher in the afternoon for Math & Science. He also has band practice everyday where he has chosen to play percussion - so he gets to play different drums and the xylophone/marimba. He also goes to the intermediate school with Liam and has a day from 9:10 - 3:40.
Silas, age 14, 9th grade - Freshman - LOTS of different teachers!
Silas is really enjoying High School. You could feel that he was nervous the first day - where are all my classes? Where should I put my things and soccer bag? Who should I eat lunch wit?, etc. But he held his head high and went in with confidence and had a great first day. The daily schedule for him is 8:00 to 2:40 where he has 7 different classes and a short 20 minutes lunch break. No more recess time for him! The classes he is taking this semester (half year) are English, Geometry, Spanish, Introduction to Engineering, Popular Music, Videography, and Physics. He is excelling in the classes and has told us he likes the challenge and that so many students really work hard at school and take it seriously....consequently there is not so much noise in the classroom, which he is really enjoying! The homework load has been quite a bit more than he is used to. He can easily have 1-2 hours of homework a night. He had some VERY challenging Geometry assignments last week, and we were very grateful that his Dad is a Math teacher!! He is picking up Spanish, his fourth language, really quickly and enjoys when he sees and hears Spanish things around us. During his 7 classes he has different students in each class, so he is getting to know many different people og all ages. He is a bit challenged by this in Popular Music however, becaues it is mostly Juniors and Seniors (11th + 12th grade) and he feels a bit "small." But at the same time he knows his instruments, so he's hanging in there! He has a homeroom every Tuesday and Thursday called Spartan Hour where they meet with the same teacher all four years of High School and can use the time to get help with assignments, do homework, or join a club. His homeroom teacher is actually one of the teachers I had in Middle School at Watertown. Small world! After school everyday he has soccer practice from 3:00-4:30. Their team is playing really well and they are undefeated in 5 games so far. He is enjoying that social setting and getting know the others on the bus to and from away games, as well as watching Varsity soccer games and texting with his new friends. Silas has also taken the bus to school everyday this week!
Mary, age 42 - Intermediate School (grades 3rd-5th) Building Substitute
I have had a great start at my school as well. As I mentioned in the previous post, my job is to fill in for the teachers and staff members who can't be in their classrooms. It could be because they have a meeting, are gone for the day, or just a few hours. The first week of school all the staff members were there so I was able to shadow teachers in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade to see how they do things. It has been an amazing experience to see how they tackle behavioral situations as well as teaching. I am very impressed and have been inspired in so many ways. This past week I had a day where I was in the Special Education room working with students with special needs. I was able to follow a boy in his daily schedule and really enjoyed the one on one, truly an inspiring little boy. There were also some difficult things from that day, mostly just because I didn't feel I knew what to do in such a new setting. Next time it will be better. Then I had a day where I was a PE (idræt) teacher all day playing games and instructing in the gym. I loved it!! We got to hear good music, play tag, throw the football around and play games. It was fun to be in a setting where the students could be loud and run around. All the staff in the building are very supportive and encouraging and really good at their jobs. When I am not assigned to a specific class I am able to help out in the classrooms with individual students - supporting them or taking them out to read, practive math, etc. I also help with making copies, laminating and grading. So I never know what my day will look like when I leave the house in the morning.
Søren, age 40 - Part time Vice Principal - part time homemaker and car chauffeur.
Søren has also had a very differnent everyday schedule than what he is used to. He could probably add a lot more, but we have all enjoyed the things he does for us. He makes us snacks everyday - for school, and for after school. He drives us to and from school (we still only have 1 car) and has done lots of projects around the house. He enjoys his daily walk and makes sure that we have enough food at the house, and clean clothes! He has been golfing once a week while we are in school, and has had a fun time playing 2 balls as the course has been very open. I think he is enjoying his alone time - but also feels it can be a bit quiet - as he is alone from 9 - 4 every day!
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| Liam getting on the school bus |
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| Liam's locker |
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| 3rd grade hallway - they walk in nice lines and are VERY quiet |
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| Liam's classroom |
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| Liam's classroom |
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| Benjamin's locker |
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| Part of the 5th grade hallway |
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| Silas the High Schooler |
